Coronavirus testing is over-rated

Coronavirus testing is over-rated.

There is way too much emphasis being placed on getting people tested. And way too much money being spent on testing that should be spent in so many other ways.

Let me explain.

A core value of healthcare is to ask: “Will this test change what I will do for my patient?” 1) If you are severely ill, in a hospital, the test, in conjunction with many other tests, will help me plan your care. 2) If you are mildly ill, driving through a testing center, and test positive, I will just send you home for quarantine. 3) If you feel fine, driving through a testing center, and test positive, I will just send you home for quarantine. 4) If you are mildly ill or well, driving through a testing center, and test negative, I will just send you home for quarantine.

But your negative test could be an error and you have a false sense of safety, so you stay out and spread it to people who then die.

What about 3 days from now, if you are negative today? Do you get retested every day?

Testing is helpful for epidemiology, to predict and plan. Spot testing samples in different regions offers valuable data. But testing an entire population at this stage is a fool’s game. #physician #healthcare #healthcarecosts #medicine #primarycare #covid19 #coronavirus