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There’s a tweet going around from a tech lifestyle blogger that appears to be misleading about what the FDA has said in regard to the Curative pcr Covid tests being widely used in LA and I wanted to clear some things up, add sources and relay some of my own reporting
First, there has always been some degree of possibility for false negative tests especially because of how this virus behaves. Everything we’ve seen has said that it can take anywhere from 5-14 days after exposure for infection to be detected
This false negative percentage is higher in the early stages rather than the later. So if someone takes a test one day after they are exposed to the disease, the test may come back as a false negative bc it isn’t detectable yet.
Some people may take that one negative test and then feel free to engage in behavior that puts others at risk of infection.
Guidance from health officials and the government has always been to stay at home within your bubble and to test regularly if you don’t.
Guidance from health officials and the government has always been to stay at home within your bubble and to test regularly if you don’t.
From what I’ve seen some people have not been following this and have used one negative test as a license to go back to pre-Covid life.
Now let’s talk about the FDA guidance:
Now let’s talk about the FDA guidance:
They have said from the beginning that the test should be administered by a medical professional. The tests at the drive up centers around LA are self-administered so this is what the FDA is saying can contribute to bad tests. I.e. people don’t cough or swab enough.
This is behavior though and DOES NOT mean the testing at the lab is faulty, merely that they can’t be certain that the samples they are being given are “good samples” to begin with.
At issue is whether asymptomatic people have been given false negatives and at this point I don’t feel like the data is there yet. The mayor has said they have close to 92,000 cases of asymptomatic people accurately testing positive.
But again, without clearly understanding people’s behavior (when they got the test, how they administered it, what they did before and after) it is hard to draw conclusions. CORE is set to release data from their clinical trials and we should wait to see those results.
So what has been contributing to the surge here in LA? Having reported on this story for many many months now here is what I’ve seen:
- People have ignored safe practices from the start: not wearing masks, not social distancing, traveling
- this behavior has increased the longer the pandemic has gone on
- restaurants and stores reopened and not everyone was following proper guidelines
- this behavior has increased the longer the pandemic has gone on
- restaurants and stores reopened and not everyone was following proper guidelines
- people got to a point of burnout and relaxed further
- huge numbers of people traveled for Thanksgiving where they either spread or picked up the virus and brought it back
- the same thing happened during Christmas and New Year’s
- huge numbers of people traveled for Thanksgiving where they either spread or picked up the virus and brought it back
- the same thing happened during Christmas and New Year’s
- we likely won’t see the full extent of the potential Christmas/New Year’s travel/gathering spike for the next few weeks
So what can you do?
So what can you do?
Continue to social distance, wear your mask whenever you are outside your home, test regularly if you are around other people so you can know your status.
Linking to great reporting from @laura_nelson at the LA Times: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2021-01-07/fda-warns-that-curatives-covid-19-test-used-by-the-city-of-l-a-may-be-inaccurate?_amp=true
