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My #COVID19 testing story.
March 7th: 103 fever, aches, elevated heart rate. I grab a mask, and head to Urgent Care.
Negative for flu, strep, and a few other tests.
Dr starts calling for covid-19 screening. After multiple phone calls she's increasingly annoyed. (Thread)
March 7th: 103 fever, aches, elevated heart rate. I grab a mask, and head to Urgent Care.
Negative for flu, strep, and a few other tests.
Dr starts calling for covid-19 screening. After multiple phone calls she's increasingly annoyed. (Thread)
She tells me that, despite my international travel, I don't qualify for covid-19 testing unless I (a) had direct contact with an known carrier, or (b) was in one of four high risk countries.
She's clearly frustrated by this answer so she instead orders a broad viral culture.
She's clearly frustrated by this answer so she instead orders a broad viral culture.
This won't detect covid-19, but it'll rule out almost everything else, she says. Diagnosis by elimination! I'll need to wait 3 days for results.
In the meantime she recommends a 14 day self-quarantine.
In the meantime she recommends a 14 day self-quarantine.
Quarantine Day 2: This is way more brutal than any "flu" I've ever had. Fever won't go down, splitting headache, and now a dry cough.
Quarantine Day 4: I call in to see if my test results are ready. Surprise news: the test was cancelled. Someone in the John Muir bureaucracy overruled my Dr and decided the viral screen wasn't necessary. Yep.
My Dr says "sorry, just wait it out."
My Dr says "sorry, just wait it out."
Quarantine Day 5: News breaks that two individuals at the RSA conference tested positive for COVID-19. I spent 3 days at the conference 9 days before developing symptoms. RSA releases the employer of the individuals but not their names.
I call my Dr back with this news. But I am still denied testing unless I had direct contact with people whose identities haven't been released. Hmm? An impossible criteria, even though contact was likely.
I call Sutter: Denied. Contra Costa public health: Denied. UCSF: Denied.
I call Sutter: Denied. Contra Costa public health: Denied. UCSF: Denied.
One Medical: I don't strictly quality but she'll make an exception. (Thank you for being reasonable, @onemedical)
I grab a mask and drive solo to their dedicated testing clinic.
Insane qualification process. Looks to me like "anyone who wants a test, can get a test" is a lie.
I grab a mask and drive solo to their dedicated testing clinic.
Insane qualification process. Looks to me like "anyone who wants a test, can get a test" is a lie.
Quarantine Day 7
I've now had a fever for a week straight and a dry cough that normal cough meds aren't helping. Miserable but at least I'm still breathing without trouble.
Quarantine Day 9: Positive for COVID-19.
I seem to be improving. Really just hoping my grandparents (staying with us this month) somehow managed to avoid it before I started quarantine.
I seem to be improving. Really just hoping my grandparents (staying with us this month) somehow managed to avoid it before I started quarantine.
I cannot begin to fathom why we are failing to test people with symptoms like mine. It's almost as if someone in the administration "likes the numbers where they are."
I worry covid-19 cases are massively undercounted in the U.S. Stay safe folks -- stay home if you can.
I worry covid-19 cases are massively undercounted in the U.S. Stay safe folks -- stay home if you can.
