My stubborn ass sister finally got a COVID test for her and her son. (A Language Matters Post)

[Pacifist Patriot]

Gotta give the girl credit for persistence. She and her teenage son were potentially exposed on June 20. They have self-isolated as a result and began the quest to get tested on Monday, June 29. Her experience confirmed my fears that testing capacity is woefully low in our county with a complete lack of logistical coordination. We knew that. Now we KNOW that.

They succeeded this morning. They were numbers 12 and 13 in line at 7:00 a.m. at a walk-in clinic that got 16 tests last night. The bureaucratic process meant their tests were finally administered at 10:30 a.m. She reported that the test is indeed "rather uncomfortable." Three and a half hours to test 13 people. Wow!

On their way home, my nephew texted his cousins, my sons, to tell them he was presumptive positive. Cue teenage freak out in my house.

I texted my sister to ask if that was the case and she said, yes. I called her to get more information because in an earlier text she had told us they would not be getting results for 7-14 days.

Turns out they were unaware of the technical meaning of the phrase which is "a presumptive positive result is when a patient has tested positive by a public health laboratory, but results are pending confirmation at CDC. For public health purposes, a presumptive positive result using the CDC test is treated as a positive."

What actually happened was the doctor who administered the test also took their vitals and assessed their symptoms. He concluded that my nephew could very well have it so advised him to continue to self-isolate and monitor symptoms closely while they wait for the test results.

Thankfully I clarified that before he or his mother took to social media!

Both she and he are exhibiting cold-like symptoms. It could be a garden-variety cold, or it could be COVID. I do agree they definitely need to act like they have it, i.e. presume they are positive. Bur lordy, be careful with how you say it. LOL!

Stay safe out there DUers!

[cyclonefence]

1. I would imagine

that anyone who's been exposed to someone who has covid19 would be presumed to be contagious until proven otherwise, and ought to be quarantined until he/she has a negative test result. Maybe I'm not getting it (not covid, though I hope that's the case!).

[Pacifist Patriot]

3. Since March I've been acting as if I have it and could give it to someone else.

But I realize not everyone is in a position to be able to do that to great extent.

They have no idea if they were exposed, they were just in a situation they didn't feel was handled the way it was supposed to be. So they immediately locked down their house just in case. When they began to feel icky they decided to definitely get the test.

[marble falls]

2. We are truly in this together.

[Pacifist Patriot]

4. I confess I've lost all patience with self-entitled people who don't seem capable of grasping that.

[marble falls]

5. We're quarantined since the end of February. I don't get what some people just don't get ...

Covid. We're moving out of Texas when its safe.

[Ohiogal]

6. It's ridiculous

How difficult it still is in some areas to get tested!

[Pacifist Patriot]

7. The fact that testing is not:

a) widely available
b) easy to get
c) strategically targeted in addition to available on demand
d) have a predictable distribution schedule
e) have faster results

after six months is criminal in an ethical sense if not a statutory one. I wouldn't even classify this as reactionary testing. It's cluster $%^& testing.