Others have pointed out the problems with the new @CDCgov testing recommendations for asymptomatic contacts of confirmed cases.

But it's important to point out the huge impact this guidance will have on the growing community of COVID19 #longhaulers... https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/testing-overview.html

When hospitals were overwhelmed in NYC in March and April, we sent home LOTS of patients who undoubtedly had COVID19 without testing them. We just didn't have the testing capacity at the time.

We advised them to 'just act like you have COVID, because you most likely do'...

Others, knowing they wouldn't be tested, didn't bother coming to the hospital at all. So they rode out the disease at home. And thankfully, most got better.

But so many didn't. Months later, they're still suffering with long-term complications from that initial illness...

As @edyong209 recently wrote about in @TheAtlantic, "Long-Haulers Are Redefining COVID-19". We're learning so much more about this community every day, and so much of the advocacy and research is being driven by #longhaulers themselves. https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2020/08/long-haulers-covid-19-recognition-support-groups-symptoms/615382/

Okay Craig, sure, but what does this have to do with the new @CDCgov guidelines?

Right now, many COVID #longhaulers are having trouble getting care for these long-term complications because they never had a positive COVID test when they were undoubtedly sick with COVID...

And THIS is exactly why testing matters. We've already had over 5.5 million diagnosed COVID19 cases in the US, but the true toll is undoubtedly way higher.

There are already likely hundreds of thousands of COVID19 survivors who can't shake the complications of their infection.

Already so many are being brushed off & stigmatized because they weren't able to get tested early on.

"It's probably anxiety" they're told.

Our initial testing failures have made it drastically harder for this community to receive competent and compassionate care.

And reducing testing now will only exacerbate the problem we created early on by not testing enough.

This new @CDCgov guidance would mean fewer people with COVID19 get diagnosed. And later on, they'll struggle to convince providers their long-term symptoms are COVID-related.

Yes, the new @CDCgov guidance is misguided for so many reasons. It'll definitely make it harder for us to get this virus under control in the short term.

But it's impact in the long-term could be even greater. We need to be thinking about the expanding community of #longhaulers.

Because many of them will still be struggling with the complications of COVID19, long after this pandemic is gone.