Why so many negative Coronavirus results?

[bcla]

Well, I assume sick if they are positive?

Today we have 422 positive, 3151 tested and 4 deaths.

Again, more testing, higher numbers.

The problem right now is with limited test kits available, justifying testing possibility asymptomatic patients is going to be difficult. That would have been ideal if there was a test a month ago in adequate numbers for testing on demand.

 

[Heather07438]

Again, more testing, higher numbers.

Absolutely. There's definitely key data missing. What are total rates to all in a community wide outbreak? Are there slightly different strains around the globe? Are some groups genetically predisposed to complications? Does ibuprofen make any difference? What treatments show promise? What situations are most responsible for community spread? Can social distancing work to keep healthcare from becoming inundated? Etc, etc, there's a hundred important things to discover.

April 2020 will be the month of numbers. Hopefully some meaningful answers are gleaned, then we can reassess our actions.

 

[gotomu212]

They are testing people for data, pure and simple. It's not to help the patient. Treatment is purely supportive. Rest, hydration, stay home unless you have life-threatening symptoms.

It is helpful to those that may be in contact with a positive. Stopping the spread is one of the main reasons they test especially since it’s shown to shed for so long. You have the flu, sure as soon as you feel better go to work, you have CoVid, you need to isolate much longer.

 

[erc]

Because only 10% of the tested are positive is that a good indication that they are discovering nearly all of the positives. I might be more suspect if 60% of the tests were coming back positive. It is a huge number of negatives.

 

[Lynne M]

Agreed. Isn't the treatment recommendation the same as other similar illnesses as well? I understand people are upset about the lack of testing but there isn't any medicine they can give you to make you recover faster.

They’re only rationing testing because there aren’t enough kits and reagents. Ideally, you test as many people as possible, both symptomatic and asymptomatic. That‘s how they did it in South Korea, making free testing available to anyone who wanted it, and they got really useful information out of it.

Anyway, testing isn’t just done to determine treatment. There are many reasons, but here’s one example. There’s a hospital in CT that has 20 nurses out on quarantine. If they could test them, they could get the ones who are clear back to work, where they’re desperately needed. You can see how quickly that could spiral into a severe staff shortage that badly impacts patient care.