Wondering if you should be tested for COVID-19? Here’s what you need to know, for now
You’ve got a little bit of a cough and you’re not feeling like yourself.
Should you get tested for the new coronavirus?
Shifts in testing criteria and testing capacity in an evolving situation and is causing confusion and raising questions.
This is what you should know, according to the Whatcom County Health Department:
▪ You can’t get the test yourself. That decision is made by health care providers and public health officials.
▪ If your respiratory symptoms are mild, you don’t need to be tested.
So far, about 84% of people with what also is called COVID-19 have recovered without medical care, the Whatcom County Health Department said.
Public health officials and health care providers said you should be tested if:
▪ You have a lower respiratory tract infection that makes it hard to breathe, causes chest tightness, or makes you wheeze when exhaling. Ditto for a severe cough that may produce mucus, also known as phlegm.
▪ You’ve had close contact — been within 6 feet — of someone who tested positive for the illness.
As of Friday morning, March 6, there have been no confirmed case of COVID-19 in Whatcom County.
▪ You’ve recently traveled to the affected geographic regions of China, Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan and Hong Kong.
COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019, is the name of the disease that first appeared in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, before spreading to other countries, including the U.S. It is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus .
The disease is spread through contact between people within 6 feet of each other — what’s referred to as close contact — especially through coughing and sneezing that expels respiratory droplets that land in the mouths or noses of people nearby.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it’s possible to catch COVID-19 by touching something that has the virus on it, and then touching your own face, “but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads.”
Symptoms may occur two days to two weeks after exposure.
Stay informed
▪ https://whatcomcounty.us/ncov
▪ doh.wa.gov/Emergencies/Coronavirus. Call a hotline at 1-800-525-0127 and then press # for questions about what is happening in Washington state, how the virus spreads, and what to do if you have symptoms.
▪ cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html. Email general questions about COVID-19 in Whatcom County to covid@co.whatcom.wa.us.
▪ cob.org/services/safety/emergencies/Pages/covid-19.aspx
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 10:37 AM.
