Buzz
I wasn’t shocked that the president caught the coronavirus; what amazed me was how long it took. He refuses to wear a mask and is frequently in the company of others who also don’t wear masks. He even asks those speaking to him to remove their masks. It almost appears as if he depended entirely on the regular testing of those near him to magically halt the virus.
While testing is crucial, it alone cannot curb the spread of COVID-19. Testing merely identifies who is infected, providing a chance to confront the situation with clarity.
Essential steps to take in addition to testing
While the health of the entire community—or even the globe—is important, let’s conduct a small mental exercise. Imagine you care solely about one individual: yourself. You go to work daily as the person in charge. How do you minimize your personal risk of contracting the virus?
Suppose you’re already avoiding individuals known to be infected. Not just keeping a six-foot distance—you wouldn’t even want to share the same space. They should remain at home, skip work, and avoid social gatherings.
Since not everyone infected with the virus is aware of their condition, you should strive to avoid everyone you don’t absolutely need to engage with. To lower your risk around people of unknown status, you’d wear a mask and insist they do the same (or enforce it, given your authority). You’d wash your hands often and ensure your team regularly disinfects surfaces as an extra precaution.
Testing is only useful if you act on the results
Alright, but testing should still be beneficial, correct? Absolutely, but only if you respond appropriately to the outcomes.
This is where the meticulous difference between isolation and quarantine becomes crucial:
Isolation applies to individuals confirmed to have the virus.
Quarantine is for those who have been exposed to the virus and might be infected but haven’t yet received confirmation.
If a coworker you’ve been near tests positive, they should isolate. You, having been in close contact, should quarantine.
This procedure doesn’t seem to have been adhered to at the White House. Kayleigh McEnany continued coming to work in recent days despite having recent interactions with individuals like Hope Hicks, who had tested positive, because her own tests were negative.
A negative test result doesn’t guarantee you’re free of infection
Crucially, someone can be infected with the coronavirus and still receive a negative test result. This could occur due to a false negative, which might happen if the swab didn’t collect sufficient viral RNA or if the individual is in the earliest phase of infection, making detection difficult. As highlighted in an FDA fact sheet on PCR testing, “a negative result does not eliminate the possibility of COVID-19 and should not be the sole factor in treatment or patient management decisions. A negative result does not rule out COVID-19.”
Notably, the Abbott ID Now test, used by the White House, was designed for symptomatic individuals (such as those visiting urgent care centers) and isn’t optimized to detect the virus in asymptomatic cases, as STAT reports. Abbott clarifies that the test identifies 95% of cases in individuals “within 7 days after symptoms begin.”
Individuals with COVID-19 may test negative multiple times before finally testing positive. This could explain McEnany’s situation, given her repeated exposure to people who later tested positive. This is also why Joe Biden’s negative tests don’t confirm he’s free of the virus. As the CDC clearly advises, anyone exposed to a positive case should quarantine for 14 days, regardless of their relationship to the president.
