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queer_scribblingIn which I vent about Covid-19 testing and explain how I’m not being counted as having Covid-19.
#1: The ability to get tested varies.
Due to the US having a less than ideal federal response when it comes to organizing and implementing testing, it’s down to individual states to figure something out. Depending on whether your region is having an outbreak and where you live in your state, there can be different experiences with testing availability. There are loads of images showing people waiting in long lines on the news, which undoubtedly sucks in the heat, but there are no drive thru testing sites in my county. There are no store chains with pharmacies offering self-administered testing by appointment. If you have such severe symptoms that you need to go to the ER, you can get tested there, but if you’re in that category, you probably have more pressing concerns than figuring out how you can get yourself tested. If your google search includes some variation of ‘covid-19 testing’, the advice that shows up at the top of the screen will say that you should talk to a healthcare provider or call your primary care provider. You just have to meet your primary care provider’s checklist for ordering a test.
Depending on your insurance and probably some other factors, you might not have to pay for the test itself. When it comes to googling medical advice, that’s really not half bad. However, there’s a bit of a wrinkle in that plan, and I don’t mean assuming everyone has a care provider, insurance, or a way to contact their provider. Depending on your region, state, or even just your county prioritizing and conserving tests, you might have a specific window where your care provider will approve a test. On the one hand, I can understand letting enough time pass that you don’t wind up with a false negative from testing too early, but on the other hand, the cut off for the window appears to be location specific and not exactly common knowledge. I don’t know how I was supposed to figure this out in the initial stage when I was feverish and sleeping most of the day, but I was disqualified for being outside the testing window.
#2: As of 14 July 2020, there are no antibody tests being ordered within my county. Which leads to:
#3: There’s criteria to count as a probable case. (I don’t meet them.)
I’m ignoring the criteria that relates to cause of death, which leaves:
Clinical criteria: I was not admitted into the hospital, so I don’t have scans of my lungs or anything along those lines. This pretty much leaves symptoms that cannot be attributed to another illness or condition with a particular eye for Covid-19 specific symptoms.
Epidemiologic evidence: I have not left the house since March due to having pre-existing conditions that could make me ‘vulnerable’ to complications, but the way in which someone phrases and interprets whether I’ve been in close contact with someone with Covid-19 varies. I believe a relative experienced a mild enough case that they didn’t realize that they were experiencing Covid-19, but neither potential person has lab-confirmed Covid-19. Neither is considered a probable case, and I’m not seeking testing in the course of contact tracing. According to my primary care provider, I don’t meet this criteria.
Presumptive laboratory evidence: There are no antibody tests being ordered in my county.
On the one hand, I know this isn’t a new or outlier experience. There are always people who don’t meet the qualifications for probable and confirmed cases, especially in a pandemic scenario. On the other hand, I don’t qualify for further contact tracing. (I’ve already talked about how I think it was most likely my grandmother who was my point of exposure.) This means there’s no impartial contact tracer to really find out who she has been around, and there’s no way to rule whether her attendance at a friend’s house for dinner was her point of exposure or not (potentially an asymptomatic host or her husband). I’m not saying my grandmother might’ve exposed a whole bunch of over 65s when the Senior Center reopened. Honestly, I’m hoping she didn’t. She’s just the kind of person who would need the lab results with POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 on a paper shoved into her face to take preventative steps to not spread it, though.
#1: The ability to get tested varies.
Due to the US having a less than ideal federal response when it comes to organizing and implementing testing, it’s down to individual states to figure something out. Depending on whether your region is having an outbreak and where you live in your state, there can be different experiences with testing availability. There are loads of images showing people waiting in long lines on the news, which undoubtedly sucks in the heat, but there are no drive thru testing sites in my county. There are no store chains with pharmacies offering self-administered testing by appointment. If you have such severe symptoms that you need to go to the ER, you can get tested there, but if you’re in that category, you probably have more pressing concerns than figuring out how you can get yourself tested. If your google search includes some variation of ‘covid-19 testing’, the advice that shows up at the top of the screen will say that you should talk to a healthcare provider or call your primary care provider. You just have to meet your primary care provider’s checklist for ordering a test.
Depending on your insurance and probably some other factors, you might not have to pay for the test itself. When it comes to googling medical advice, that’s really not half bad. However, there’s a bit of a wrinkle in that plan, and I don’t mean assuming everyone has a care provider, insurance, or a way to contact their provider. Depending on your region, state, or even just your county prioritizing and conserving tests, you might have a specific window where your care provider will approve a test. On the one hand, I can understand letting enough time pass that you don’t wind up with a false negative from testing too early, but on the other hand, the cut off for the window appears to be location specific and not exactly common knowledge. I don’t know how I was supposed to figure this out in the initial stage when I was feverish and sleeping most of the day, but I was disqualified for being outside the testing window.
#2: As of 14 July 2020, there are no antibody tests being ordered within my county. Which leads to:
#3: There’s criteria to count as a probable case. (I don’t meet them.)
I’m ignoring the criteria that relates to cause of death, which leaves:
- Meet clinical criteria AND epidemiologic evidence with no confirmatory laboratory testing performed for COVID-19.
- Meet presumptive laboratory evidence AND either clinical criteria OR epidemiologic evidence.
Clinical criteria: I was not admitted into the hospital, so I don’t have scans of my lungs or anything along those lines. This pretty much leaves symptoms that cannot be attributed to another illness or condition with a particular eye for Covid-19 specific symptoms.
Epidemiologic evidence: I have not left the house since March due to having pre-existing conditions that could make me ‘vulnerable’ to complications, but the way in which someone phrases and interprets whether I’ve been in close contact with someone with Covid-19 varies. I believe a relative experienced a mild enough case that they didn’t realize that they were experiencing Covid-19, but neither potential person has lab-confirmed Covid-19. Neither is considered a probable case, and I’m not seeking testing in the course of contact tracing. According to my primary care provider, I don’t meet this criteria.
Presumptive laboratory evidence: There are no antibody tests being ordered in my county.
On the one hand, I know this isn’t a new or outlier experience. There are always people who don’t meet the qualifications for probable and confirmed cases, especially in a pandemic scenario. On the other hand, I don’t qualify for further contact tracing. (I’ve already talked about how I think it was most likely my grandmother who was my point of exposure.) This means there’s no impartial contact tracer to really find out who she has been around, and there’s no way to rule whether her attendance at a friend’s house for dinner was her point of exposure or not (potentially an asymptomatic host or her husband). I’m not saying my grandmother might’ve exposed a whole bunch of over 65s when the Senior Center reopened. Honestly, I’m hoping she didn’t. She’s just the kind of person who would need the lab results with POSITIVE FOR COVID-19 on a paper shoved into her face to take preventative steps to not spread it, though.
