We Still Aren't Doing Nearly Enough Testing for Coronavirus
Dr. Leana Wen
At the end of last week, I got the sort of text we’re all dreading right now: The parent of a kid in my son’s carpool had tested positive for COVID-19. After privately freaking out, I emailed the family asking if they would please let us know the test results for the child who had been in the van with our son. In my naiveté, I assumed that if you had shared a bathroom and a kitchen and any number of meals with someone who had the virus, if that person had walked you hand-in-hand to catch the van to school, had helped you with your homework at night, had maybe even brushed your teeth, you would automatically get tested. I was very, very wrong.
In our cascading awareness of the severity of the COVID-19 threat and of the colossal SNAFU in getting functional testing kits out to the American public, that moment of blissful ignorance feels a lifetime away. We now know — rather than just suspect — that the virus has been spreading undetected in the United States for weeks, that our government has massively, stupidly, dangerously failed where other governments have heroically succeeded, and that lack of information about who has the virus in its early stages on our shores has turned a deadly problem into an exponentially deadlier one. But still, the question remains: Who gets tested for coronavirus, and how? To find out, I got on a (socially distanced) phone call with Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician and public health professor at George Washington University, and the former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore. What she shared was informative — but sobering.
When and how and where should a person get tested if they think they have COVID-19?
This is an evolving situation, and so the circumstances will be different depending on the location that you’re in and depending on when you end up seeking a test. Right now, if you have no symptoms, it is unlikely that you will be able to get a test. If you have mild symptoms, you should call your doctor. Do not go to the ER. Call your doctor and see what the availability of testing might be in your area. Very likely, there will not be enough tests, and therefore your doctor will recommend that you self-isolate at home and that you manage with what we call “symptomatic management,” which is fluids, rest, and over-the-counter medications. If you are feeling very ill — for example if you have severe shortness of breath — your doctor will recommend that you go to the ER, and it’s possible that you may be able to get testing there. But do not go to the ER unless you would have otherwise gone. As in, do not go to the ER seeking a test because you will likely not be able to get a test and in fact you will end up potentially exposing yourself to other pathogens or spreading the disease to others, and you will take up valuable capacity in hospitals because many patients need in-patient acute care.
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https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/leana-wen-on-coronavirus-testing-969318/