1 Full title: Pooled-sample analysis strategies for COVID-19 mass testing: a simulation study Authors: Andreas Deckert 1* , Till Bärnighausen 1,2 , Nicholas Kyei 1 Running title: Analysis strategies for COVID-19 mass testing Affiliations: 1 Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany. *Corresponding author: Heidelberg Institute of Global Health, Heidelberg University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 324, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany, email: a.deckert@uni-heidelberg.de (Submitted: 30 March 2020 – Published online: 2 April 2020) DISCLAIMER This paper was submitted to the Bulletin of the World Health Organization and was posted to the COVID-19 open site, according to the protocol for public health emergencies for international concern as described in Vasee Moorthy et al. (http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20.251561). The information herein is available for unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the original work is properly cited as indicated by the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Intergovernmental Organizations licence (CC BY IGO 3.0). RECOMMENDED CITATION Deckert A, Bärnighausen T & Kyei N. Pooled-sample analysis strategies for COVID-19 mass testing: a simulation study [Preprint]. Bull World Health Organ. E-pub: 2 April 2020. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2471/BLT.20.257188