A New York City woman named Rachel Figueroa had a not-so-fun weekend when she took herself to urgent care with symptoms that would lead anyone with access to news that she might have contracted the COVID-19-causing SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus — you know, the one currently putting the entire planet on edge.
A few hours later, she still had the symptoms, but no official diagnosis. Why?
Let's start at the beginning. Figueroa, a fun Twitter follow — and the brilliant mind behind longtime NYC-inside-joke parody account @ElBloombito — went into urgent care with, well, this:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236378780148563971
Testing and diagnosis are both key to slowing the spread of COVID-19. By identifying those who have it, health care localities are able to treat them appropriately while also isolating them and telling those they've had contact with to self-quarantine as a precautionary measure (thereby reducing others' potential exposure to the virus, and its potential to infect more people).
So you'd think: This is someone who would definitely get tested, immediately.
Try again.
First:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236384084793925633
Then:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236390295538974722
Mind you: There's no evidence to suggest that anybody in New York City's Chinatown has COVID-19. Chinatown, NYC is not to be confused with actual-China, the country where the outbreak started. Anyway:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236391221922344960
Fifty minutes after the first Tweet:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236393031131168768
And then:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236397325184126976
Now, here's where you might think: Okay, she's been tested for COVID-19 and is a confirmed case. We're on our way to a full resolution, here. And you might think that because that'd be the normal, correct, sane course of action. And yet:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236402077510885377
Whence of the COVID-19 test? Well:
https://twitter.com/Jewyorican/status/1236407155743481860
That's correct: No. Other. Tests. Reminders:
1. Testing is crucial to treating the sick and slowing the spread.
2. On Friday, March 6th, a day before Figueroa went to urgent care, the White House: "Anybody who wants a test gets a test."
3. Testing appears, statistically speaking, to save lives:
South Korea tested more than 140,000 people + current #fatality rate appears to be around 0.6% (WHO estimates global fatality rate is 3.4%). #SouthKorea's #widespread #testing could be the reason for the lower number. https://t.co/8mvy1pXHpc
— 🇵🇹Common Raven🇺🇸 (@Bewickwren) March 9, 2020
Whether that's because more positive tests changes the ratios of fatalities to recoveries, or because more positive tests gives people more information and more of an ability to quarantine and isolate remains to be seen.
Both outcomes are likely; both outcomes are also likely the reverse of what's happening in America. Why?
The United States is last in the world per capita in coronavirus testing https://t.co/YHiTq1WoUq
— Steven Mazie (@stevenmazie) March 9, 2020
That might explain it.
[Also, seriously, follow Rachel Figueroa as she documents her experience in self-quarantine with a healthy amount of cheek, and @ElBloombito, a true New York City fabuloso.]
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READ MORE: The Strongest Evidence Yet That America Is Botching Coronavirus Testing [The Atlantic]
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