New coronavirus monitoring program launched in Seattle based on home-test kits

[pat_k]

Source: Seattle Times

Health officials in King County are launching a new surveillance program to better track the spread of COVID-19 – and they’re asking residents to volunteer their noses for the effort.

Self-test kits with nasal swabs will be delivered to participants, who will send the samples back for analysis. The effort’s main goal is to get a better handle on the prevalence, severity and distribution of infection and gauge the impact of measures like social distancing and school closures, said Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health – Seattle & King County.

“The basic question that it’s going to be answering for us is what’s below the tip of the iceberg,” he said.

Clinical testing so far has mainly identified people sick enough to seek medical care, but many more are harboring the virus and potentially spreading it to others, even though they might have no symptoms themselves, Duchin said.

...



Read more: https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/new-coronavirus-surveillance-program-launched-in-seattle-based-on-home-test-kits/

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This is great to see. I am so grateful that University of Washington has stepped up the way they have.

I think this will yield extremely important information.

[Mike 03]

1. This seems like quite good news

and it's hard to find good news about coronavirus.

[WA-03 Democrat]

2. Yes!

This is good news indeed! Let's get data rather than wishes.

[nilram]

3. State of Oregon, even if you have symptoms, you can't get tested.

Doesn’t look to be improving soon.

[SunSeeker]

7. Same in California.

[EarthFirst]

4. I'll be honest; I don't know if I'd have it in me to stab that swap into my nasal cavity...

I’d have to have someone do it for me!

Great program; otherwise!

[pat_k]

5. I went to online app to volunteer -- they are full up

So I guess folks aren't thinking about the pain involved (or don't realize it can hurt)

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

19. That was my first thought. When I had a flu sample taken, the swab felt like it pierced my brain.

I definitely wouldn't have been able to do it on my own. Other than that a home test sounds great.

[SunSeeker]

6. God bless them. We all need to be doing this. nt

[Juneboarder]

8. Great news!

But... I don't know if I could bring myself to sticking that swab so far up my nose. Someone would have to do it for me. My husband got tested last Wednesday and he can take a lot more than I can, and even he said it was painful and weird.

[pat_k]

16. Same response as above

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10142454386#post5

[Dem2theMax]

9. Extremely jealous Californian sitting here.

I would happily jab that thing up my nose, to know if I had it.

But I'm healthy now. I needed a test three weeks ago.

[iluvtennis]

11. There is home test kit available for Californians

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-home-test-kits-carbon-health-startup-2020-3

A San Francisco startup is shipping coronavirus home test kits to sick Californians for $167

Carbon Health, a healthcare startup based in San Francisco, announced Friday that it has started shipping home test kits for the coronavirus disease, known as COVID-19.

The tests cost $167.50 and consist of a saliva sample taken from an oral swab. The test kits are currently available to patients in California, with plans to expand nationwide depending on state regulations. Patients who qualify to request the kits are those who feel sick and are recommended by healthcare providers to stay home, but who are opting to stay out of medical centers so as not to potentially expose others.

Patients are asked to first create a Carbon Health account and complete the company's free online screening test. According to its website, the company's free Coronavirus Assessment Tool is "based on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines." Patients that are eligible for the test kits will then be able to order and pay.

The test offerings are in partnership with Alto Pharmacy, a San Francisco-based online pharmacy that offers same-day prescription deliveries.

"Between supply shortages and lack of capacity, testing for COVID-19 is one of our country's biggest obstacles to containing the outbreak," said Eren Bali, cofounder and CEO of Carbon Health, in a press release. "Our proprietary technology and partnership with Alto Pharmacy allowed us to move fast and efficiently create, analyze and distribute testing."

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short article, no more at link. I'll post this as it's on topic.

[Dem2theMax]

12. Too late for me, because I am now symptom-free.

Thank goodness! That was three weeks I don't ever want to repeat. But this will be very helpful for others. You should make a brand new OP about this, and also cross-post in the California forum.

Thank you so much for getting this information to us!



Edited because my phone needs its own spell checker. They are not as smart as they would lead us to believe.

[iluvtennis]

13. So happy you're well. I posted this in General Discussion. I'll link it to California as well.

Stay safe

[Dem2theMax]

14. Me too! That was not fun.

So glad you are posting it in other areas, so more eyes can see it.

You stay safe too! The Democrats need to survive, so we can repair the country.

[pat_k]

18. Might want to do a little research and perhaps revise GD post.

FDA warns that kits for purchase by public aren't authorized (or may be scams)

It sounds like they are only authorizing home testing organized through programs like UW's and planned Gates Foundation program -- that there aren't any entities authorized to sell home kits to the public, so they are either doing it without authorization, or may be a scam.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/21/fda-warns-new-home-coronavirus-tests-unauthorized/

Of course, with the rapidity that things are changing, this may have changed too and Carbon Health obtained authorization to move forward.

[iluvtennis]

20. linking your post to the California post. nt

[pat_k]

17. FDA warns that kits for purchase by public aren't authorized (or may be scams)

It sounds like FDA is only authorizing home testing organized through programs like UW's and planned Gates Foundation program -- that there aren't any entities authorized to sell home kits to the public, so they are either doing it without authorization, or may be a scam.

https://www.statnews.com/2020/03/21/fda-warns-new-home-coronavirus-tests-unauthorized/

Of course, with the rapidity that things are changing, this may have changed too and Carbon Health obtained authorization to move forward.

[MuseRider]

10. I wish we had test kits period.

We used up our first 500 and someone else is sending some more that will last only a few days. We are on the, "If it is not flu it is CV19" game. Meanwhile our numbers are not really high but they are starting to grow by 5's and 10's a day rather than the first days of 1 or 2 a day. We really do not know.

[pat_k]

15. Where are you located?

[MuseRider]

21. Kansas

We are getting a few but not enough to really test and be confident this is the answer. You can go to the hospital and they will send them out to Mayo or two other places. Something tells me you will not get a result very quickly, they have to be swamped. We can do it here but we have very few tests left.

[JudyM]

22. Nasal swabs aren't going to give the real picture.

The virus has been shown to be live in fecal swabs when the nasal swabs were negative. Folks can be contagious over a month... but this is at least a decent start. Real problem is people testing negative nasally then thinking they don’t need to practice social distancing etc...