Testing Alone Does Not Stop the Virus
I was surprised not that the president contracted the coronavirus, but that it lasted so long. He doesn’t wear a mask; he is often surrounded by people who do not wear masks ; he tells people talking to him to take off their masks . It seems that he relied solely on frequent checks of those around him to somehow stop the virus.
Testing is important, but it cannot stop the spread of COVID-19 on its own. Testing simply tells you who has the virus. This gives you the ability to fight with your eyes open.
What to do besides testing
The health of the entire community – even the entire world – matters, but let’s do a little thought experiment. Let’s say you only care about one person: yourself. You come to work every day where you are the boss. How can you reduce your personal chances of contracting the virus?
Let’s say you already stay away from people known to be sick. Not just six feet from them – you wouldn’t want to be in the same room with them. They must stay at home. Don’t show up for work. Don’t go to parties.
And since not all who have the virus know that they have it, you should do your best to stay away from all those with whom you do not need to interact. To reduce the risk when you are around people of unknown status, you should wear a mask and ask them to wear a mask (or make them wear a mask, since you are the boss). You should wash your hands frequently and instruct personnel to sanitize surfaces – just in case.
Testing only helps if you know what to do with the results.
Okay, but testing should still help , right? Of course, but only if you take appropriate action based on the results.
This is where this pedantic distinction between isolation and quarantine becomes important:
- Isolation is for people who know they have the virus.
- The quarantine is for people who have been exposed to the virus and are likely to get it, but do not yet know.
So if your close coworker tests positive, they should isolate themselves. You, because you are in contact with them, should put them in quarantine.
This protocol is clearly not enforced in the White House. Kaylee McEnani has continued to show up for work over the past few days because her tests were negative, although she recently had contact with other people, such as Hope Hicks, who tested positive.
A negative test does not mean that you are not infected.
It is important to note that a person can contract the coronavirus, but the test is still negative. This could be because they received a false negative result. Possible reasons include: the smear may not have found enough viral RNA, or it may be that the person is in a very early stage of infection when it is more difficult to detect. The FDA notes in a PCR testing fact sheet that “A negative result does not rule out COVID-19 and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions. A negative result does not rule out the possibility of COVID-19. “
It is important to note that the test that the White House used, Abbott’s ID Now, was created for use in people with symptoms (such as emergency centers) and is not intended to detect disease in people who do not show symptoms. so far, reports STAT . The company says it detects 95% of cases in humans “within 7 days of the onset of symptoms.”
People with COVID may test negative multiple times before eventually testing positive. This could be what happened to McEnany, for example, as she has had repeated contact with people who later tested positive. This is why Joe Biden ‘s negative tests do not guarantee that he is free of viruses . Anyone who has had contact with someone who has tested positive should be quarantined for 14 days, the CDC clearly states , whether they are friends with the president or not.