At this point, the public testing sites are testing anyone who wants to be tested. However, I would caution against this slightly, for two reasons:
- When you are asymptomatic, you may test negative, but actually be too early in the infection to test positive. This may give a false sense of confidence, and you may spread the infection to others in that time.
- In some of these public sites, you are walked through a self swab. The swabbing process is particularly important and affects the accuracy of the test. Again, getting a negative test when you actually have the virus can be dangerous.
I think we should be testing as many people as possible, but I also think our results should be as accurate as possible if we’re going to really be able to contain the spread.
So with my patients, I test if they have a constellation of symptoms that sound like COVID-19, OR if they have even one symptom with a known contact. I do tend to wait for symptoms because it makes it less likely the test will be negative when they actually have the virus. I always recommend that if they’ve been in high risk contact with someone with the virus that they behave as if they have the virus for 2 weeks (meaning self quarantine) regardless of symptoms. Ultimately, this should be a conversation between you and your doctor.
*****UPDATE*****
Things have changed significantly, but I have left the above, because there is important rationale there. Now, there are populations that it is important to test as often as possible as we re-assimilate into normal life. This will help us assure less asymptomatic spread, and help contain the virus. There are many caveats when considering when to test–for instance, if you are about to go visit loved ones and want to ensure you aren’t carrying asymptomatic infection, it may be a good time to be tested. I maintain that a conversation with your primary care doctor or an infectious disease specialist is the best way to go to decide when to get tested–it’s can get pretty complicated.