COVID-19 testing questions answered by Arizona doctor

Tests for COVID-19 are now more readily available - so who should get tested? What about antibody tests?

FOX 10 spoke to Dr. Natasha Bhuyan with One Medical for answers. 

Bhuyan says increased testing helps health officials understand the disease even more.

Who should be getting tested? If I feel fine, should I get a test? 

Bhuyan: It really comes down to a couple of different things. If someone is symptomatic, they should absolutely get tested, and then if someone has any sort of risk factor to have come into contact with COVID-19, or if you have had someone that you know tested positive. 

Essential workers come into contact [with] people all the time -- they don't know who has it and who doesn't have it, and so we are regularly testing essential workers: people who are in grocery stores, people who are in food services, even people who are ride share drivers.

Should essential workers be tested often?

Bhuyan: Now that we have more supplies, it is OK to retest essential workers. A key public health pillar is to to have widespread testing, and then we do things like contact tracing and isolation especially when we find a positive case.

What about antibody tests?

Bhuyan: There are about 120 different antibody tests out there and all of them have different accuracies. The FDA has only approved 12 through their emergency use authorization, so I do encourage patients getting an antibody test to figure out which test you're actually getting ... it's important to know the reliability of the test and the test results.

Why get tested in the first place? 

Bhuyan: In order to protect those people -- vulnerable populations, people who are older adults, people who have chronic conditions like asthma or diabetes, people who are pregnant -- in order to protect them, we need to have widespread testing and contact tracing.

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One Medical is a membership-based primary care provider. They offer both antibody and normal COVID-19 testing.

The provider is also offering a 30-day complimentary membership for people who want to get tested.

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Coronavirus (COVID-19)
How it spreads, symptoms, prevention, treatment, FAQ
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus

Arizona COVID-19 Response
Public resources, FAQ, webinars
https://www.azdhs.gov/coronavirus

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