DC: Unable to get tested even though doctors think it is Coronavirus

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are nuts. “My doctor wanted me to get tested and I couldn’t.” “Well you shouldn’t have been doing what the doctor was telling you to do.”

Wild.

+1
Np here. I'm baffled at some responses here. Are they in denial due to fear? Frankly I'm fearful too, but my reaction is not dismissive but rather wondering if I should cancel many things (kids going to a crowded birthday party, rec center, indoor play area, meeting up in a DC restaurant etc).

It is not denial. Not everyone is of the belief that we are all about to die. There have been very few outbreak / hot spots over the last 6 weeks despite the novel and higher infectiousness nature of this illness.

I am of of the same belief as the experts - use general precautions, stay our of ERs, if you have been in close contact with someone who is positive or have spent time in an area with an outbreak then self isolate, if you get sick and have these criteria - call the authorities and arrange for medical care.

I realize that most on this board are in a high state of anxiety with catastrophized thinking where they do think they and their family are about to die and that everyone should be tested and that you should go to the ER if you have any signs of being sick at all because otherwise not being tested = death. I get that when people are anxious, it feels really scary and no rational thought is going to make it better. The problem is that mass panic makes situations worse, not better. Every person with a cough, or fever or diarrhea who rushes to the ER to try and insist on testing because they heard from their neighbors that the principal at a local school's third cousin had traveled to Italy just adds to the problem on multiple levels. The problem with wanting things to go viral is that all the anxious people latch onto one part that they relate to and then they make more poor decisions. It becomes very important to have responsible communication. Individuals trying to get their own anecdotal story heard usually leads to more harm, not good, especially when you have people already mass panicking over what they saw that Susie said on Instagram

[Anonymous]

In case op’s friend reads this thread-I think your behavior has been very sensible and I hope you are able to get tested and that you’re feeling better soon. I’m sure it was hard to decide to go public (especially on dcum-lol) but you did the right thing. Hopefully your story will add to the urgency of getting our testing rate up to a level comparable to Europe, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So, a woman who didn't need emergency care went to the ER and got the staff all tied up. That's the real issue here.

No, a woman repeatedly called her doctor, health department and urgent care and was repeatedly told to go the ER. She was following orders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People noting there is no treatment and so testing is useless are missing the point. We are trying to slow the spread so our medical system is not overwhelmed. Confirming cases is key to telling people to stay home so they can SLOW THE SPREAD. Doctors can thentrace contacts and isolate others who might be infected but aren't showing symptoms. This isn't about the friend - it's about the friend and all her contacts going to visit a nursing home or their elderly parents or a neighbor undergoing chemotherapy. By identifying cases we can prevent spreading and slow it down, which is critical to making sure the system isn't overehelmed.

FLATTEN THE CURVE, Y'ALL!

This. It's about the failure of health departments to test someone who was obviously at risk and stop spread through the community. Someone who knew she was at risk and tried to get the health department / doctors to test her and start tracing. The doctors wanted to, but couldn't get a test.

It's pretty much like health departments don't have the resources to deal or have just decided the path for the US is for the disease to run its course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no treatment for Coronavirus. Literally none. If your friend is being responsible and STAYING HOME because she is SICK with something then that’s all she should be doing.

I agree that it’s surprising that as a first world country we don’t have access to medical testing that we’d like to have, but it is what it is. And I don’t blame the White House for this, if anything I blame the Chinese government for keeping this quiet as long as they did. They should have had international experts in there long before they started building new hospitals. I don’t think the CDC is that great regardless of who is in office, but in this case I honestly don’t think it would make much difference.

If your friend can’t manage her symptoms at home and feels that her life is in danger then she should present at the ER and get one of the hospital beds. Otherwise please leave them for the more serious cases.

As for the rest of us, we should wash our hands, avoid large gatherings, eat well and try to stay healthy. Just like we do for everything else.

Good luck to your friend, OP, but this one is coming for all of us. No testing will save us at this point. The cat was out of the bag before the USA even named this virus or started reporting on it. We live in a free world where people move around every day, and we fly all around the world. There really was no containing this after it left Wuhan.

This is a silly way to look at it. People who have the flu can and do get tested for it, whether or not they ever take tamiflu or just rest (or get hospitalized). It should be the same way for Covid 19. Indeed, midweek state labs started saying that they could test without sending samples to the CDC, and then Labcorp and Quest announced that they would accept samples. So OP's friend should have been tested.

But you prefer to just shrug and point your finger at her (but not her doctor who advised her to go to the hospital?).

no, not everyone with flu does or should get tested.

[Anonymous]

This story sounds consistent with other people who are being denied testing. See the nurse who fell ill. https://www.msnbc.com/all-in/watch/quarantined-nurse-raises-alarms-over-being-denied-coronavirus-test-80110149805

The woman was right to seek medical attention to properly diagnose and quarantine plus to avoid complications from pneumonia if possible.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People noting there is no treatment and so testing is useless are missing the point. We are trying to slow the spread so our medical system is not overwhelmed. Confirming cases is key to telling people to stay home so they can SLOW THE SPREAD. Doctors can thentrace contacts and isolate others who might be infected but aren't showing symptoms. This isn't about the friend - it's about the friend and all her contacts going to visit a nursing home or their elderly parents or a neighbor undergoing chemotherapy. By identifying cases we can prevent spreading and slow it down, which is critical to making sure the system isn't overehelmed.

FLATTEN THE CURVE, Y'ALL!

flatten the curve by staying t f home when you are sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are nuts. “My doctor wanted me to get tested and I couldn’t.” “Well you shouldn’t have been doing what the doctor was telling you to do.”

Wild.

+1
Np here. I'm baffled at some responses here. Are they in denial due to fear? Frankly I'm fearful too, but my reaction is not dismissive but rather wondering if I should cancel many things (kids going to a crowded birthday party, rec center, indoor play area, meeting up in a DC restaurant etc).

It is not denial. Not everyone is of the belief that we are all about to die. There have been very few outbreak / hot spots over the last 6 weeks despite the novel and higher infectiousness nature of this illness.

I am of of the same belief as the experts - use general precautions, stay our of ERs, if you have been in close contact with someone who is positive or have spent time in an area with an outbreak then self isolate, if you get sick and have these criteria - call the authorities and arrange for medical care.

I realize that most on this board are in a high state of anxiety with catastrophized thinking where they do think they and their family are about to die and that everyone should be tested and that you should go to the ER if you have any signs of being sick at all because otherwise not being tested = death. I get that when people are anxious, it feels really scary and no rational thought is going to make it better. The problem is that mass panic makes situations worse, not better. Every person with a cough, or fever or diarrhea who rushes to the ER to try and insist on testing because they heard from their neighbors that the principal at a local school's third cousin had traveled to Italy just adds to the problem on multiple levels. The problem with wanting things to go viral is that all the anxious people latch onto one part that they relate to and then they make more poor decisions. It becomes very important to have responsible communication. Individuals trying to get their own anecdotal story heard usually leads to more harm, not good, especially when you have people already mass panicking over what they saw that Susie said on Instagram

This is what OP's friend did. And they properly told her to go to the hospital to be tested. The hospital properly isolated her but then ... there were no tests to be had. That's the issue. The lack of tests, in March 2020.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is no treatment for Coronavirus. Literally none. If your friend is being responsible and STAYING HOME because she is SICK with something then that’s all she should be doing.

I agree that it’s surprising that as a first world country we don’t have access to medical testing that we’d like to have, but it is what it is. And I don’t blame the White House for this, if anything I blame the Chinese government for keeping this quiet as long as they did. They should have had international experts in there long before they started building new hospitals. I don’t think the CDC is that great regardless of who is in office, but in this case I honestly don’t think it would make much difference.

If your friend can’t manage her symptoms at home and feels that her life is in danger then she should present at the ER and get one of the hospital beds. Otherwise please leave them for the more serious cases.

As for the rest of us, we should wash our hands, avoid large gatherings, eat well and try to stay healthy. Just like we do for everything else.

Good luck to your friend, OP, but this one is coming for all of us. No testing will save us at this point. The cat was out of the bag before the USA even named this virus or started reporting on it. We live in a free world where people move around every day, and we fly all around the world. There really was no containing this after it left Wuhan.

This is a silly way to look at it. People who have the flu can and do get tested for it, whether or not they ever take tamiflu or just rest (or get hospitalized). It should be the same way for Covid 19. Indeed, midweek state labs started saying that they could test without sending samples to the CDC, and then Labcorp and Quest announced that they would accept samples. So OP's friend should have been tested.

But you prefer to just shrug and point your finger at her (but not her doctor who advised her to go to the hospital?).

no, not everyone with flu does or should get tested.

Plenty of them are not, plenty of them are.

Everyone with Covid should be tested. In another week or three, they will be. They should have been last week.

[Anonymous]

Her doctor wanted to go to the hospital and the hospital doctor wanted to test her. Very likely the dept of health would also have liked her to get the test but they are having to ration because of the fiasco of our test supply. And yet dcum has found a way to blame this poor woman and cast aspersions on her character.

And I agree with pp: flatten the curve!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People noting there is no treatment and so testing is useless are missing the point. We are trying to slow the spread so our medical system is not overwhelmed. Confirming cases is key to telling people to stay home so they can SLOW THE SPREAD. Doctors can thentrace contacts and isolate others who might be infected but aren't showing symptoms. This isn't about the friend - it's about the friend and all her contacts going to visit a nursing home or their elderly parents or a neighbor undergoing chemotherapy. By identifying cases we can prevent spreading and slow it down, which is critical to making sure the system isn't overehelmed.

FLATTEN THE CURVE, Y'ALL!

flatten the curve by staying t f home when you are sick.

Unless you have asthma and are high risk for pneumonia and are having trouble breathing in spite of your medicine and your doctor tells you to go to the ER .... like OP's friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are nuts. “My doctor wanted me to get tested and I couldn’t.” “Well you shouldn’t have been doing what the doctor was telling you to do.”

Wild.

+1
Np here. I'm baffled at some responses here. Are they in denial due to fear? Frankly I'm fearful too, but my reaction is not dismissive but rather wondering if I should cancel many things (kids going to a crowded birthday party, rec center, indoor play area, meeting up in a DC restaurant etc).

It is not denial. Not everyone is of the belief that we are all about to die. There have been very few outbreak / hot spots over the last 6 weeks despite the novel and higher infectiousness nature of this illness.

I am of of the same belief as the experts - use general precautions, stay our of ERs, if you have been in close contact with someone who is positive or have spent time in an area with an outbreak then self isolate, if you get sick and have these criteria - call the authorities and arrange for medical care.

I realize that most on this board are in a high state of anxiety with catastrophized thinking where they do think they and their family are about to die and that everyone should be tested and that you should go to the ER if you have any signs of being sick at all because otherwise not being tested = death. I get that when people are anxious, it feels really scary and no rational thought is going to make it better. The problem is that mass panic makes situations worse, not better. Every person with a cough, or fever or diarrhea who rushes to the ER to try and insist on testing because they heard from their neighbors that the principal at a local school's third cousin had traveled to Italy just adds to the problem on multiple levels. The problem with wanting things to go viral is that all the anxious people latch onto one part that they relate to and then they make more poor decisions. It becomes very important to have responsible communication. Individuals trying to get their own anecdotal story heard usually leads to more harm, not good, especially when you have people already mass panicking over what they saw that Susie said on Instagram

This is what OP's friend did. And they properly told her to go to the hospital to be tested. The hospital properly isolated her but then ... there were no tests to be had. That's the issue. The lack of tests, in March 2020.

"I called GW hospital and they said not to come because they don’t have the tests. They told me that I should call the DC Department of Health. I called the Department of Health. The man on the phone took a detailed history of my symptoms and my travel history and said that the shortness of breath could be from my asthma, I don’t have a fever, and because I’m low risk I don’t qualify to be tested. I was surprised to be called low-risk with my travel history."

So what did she do, she went to the GW Emerg.

That quote was from Monday. She later was told to go in to GW and went in on Friday -- you can quote but you can't read?

[Anonymous]

She had headache, chills, SOB, stomach cramping and diarrhea

She had no fever, no cough, no chest congestion or respiratory noises, no direct contact with anyone who was infected and she not been been to an outbreak area. She has a history of asthma.

I don't see how her presentation is seen as coronavirus? What released symptom profile does this fit for CoV2?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are nuts. “My doctor wanted me to get tested and I couldn’t.” “Well you shouldn’t have been doing what the doctor was telling you to do.”

Wild.

+1
Np here. I'm baffled at some responses here. Are they in denial due to fear? Frankly I'm fearful too, but my reaction is not dismissive but rather wondering if I should cancel many things (kids going to a crowded birthday party, rec center, indoor play area, meeting up in a DC restaurant etc).

It is not denial. Not everyone is of the belief that we are all about to die. There have been very few outbreak / hot spots over the last 6 weeks despite the novel and higher infectiousness nature of this illness.

I am of of the same belief as the experts - use general precautions, stay our of ERs, if you have been in close contact with someone who is positive or have spent time in an area with an outbreak then self isolate, if you get sick and have these criteria - call the authorities and arrange for medical care.

I realize that most on this board are in a high state of anxiety with catastrophized thinking where they do think they and their family are about to die and that everyone should be tested and that you should go to the ER if you have any signs of being sick at all because otherwise not being tested = death. I get that when people are anxious, it feels really scary and no rational thought is going to make it better. The problem is that mass panic makes situations worse, not better. Every person with a cough, or fever or diarrhea who rushes to the ER to try and insist on testing because they heard from their neighbors that the principal at a local school's third cousin had traveled to Italy just adds to the problem on multiple levels. The problem with wanting things to go viral is that all the anxious people latch onto one part that they relate to and then they make more poor decisions. It becomes very important to have responsible communication. Individuals trying to get their own anecdotal story heard usually leads to more harm, not good, especially when you have people already mass panicking over what they saw that Susie said on Instagram

Experts? Like the one who told OP to get tested and where?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OMG, your friend 'didn't read the news' and went to Asia anyway. It truly is the uniformed that bring it back.

Oh please. The outbreak in South Korea isn't in Seoul. She didn't get it at the airport. She got "it" (covid or something else) somewhere else.

Because no one in the airport possibly could have been in an affected area? Because only people in Seoul are allowed to travel.