[blueash]

Lots of confusion in these posts. You CANNOT get a test for active infection by going to quest or labcorp. Their staff is not trained in how to collect a deep nasal sample. If someone else collects a sample their labs will accept it and run it. They will not allow you in their lab

From Quest's website

Additionally, patients who suspect they have COVID-19 are being directed to contact their doctor or an authorized healthcare provider for testing information and not come to Quest patient service centers.

How the test works: Your doctor or healthcare provider will collect a specimen through a nasal or throat swab. The specimen is then sent to Quest laboratories for processing using either our lab-developed test, a Roche-developed test, or a Hologic-developed test.

Labcorp has similar information. If you want to know if you are actively infected you must get a nasal swab. Most doctor's offices are not doing it, again training. You can go to several chain pharmacy drive up facilities, appointments are required. In that situation they do not take the sample, rather they give you the swab to do your own. Do you believe you are capable of sticking a swab fully into the back of your nose until you gag and getting an adequate sample? A positive test is useful, a negative may be from a poorly collected sample.

There is no such thing as

There is an antigen blood test at the pharmacy by the new Villages hospital in Brownwood for $30. Results in a few minutes.

Antigen is a test for the viral organism itself, or active disease. The blood test is for antibodies which may evidence that you had an infection in the near past. There are concerns about the reliability of the blood tests as there are both false positives, saying you have antibodies when you don't, and false negatives, suggesting you never were infected but you were.

Many commercial insurance companies have liberal policies on Covid testing including waiving copay, coinsurance, and deductibles. So even if you have an unmet $3000 deductible they may pick up the cost of Covid testing

THIS WEBSITE will give you up to date information on your company, listed alphabetically. I would however certainly call the 800 number to verify before getting a test out of curiosity.

So why do people stand in line to get tested? Because it may well be the only local way to get the nasal test properly done without also incurring a doctor office or ER visit bill and wait.

The Sumter Co DOH does do nasal testing on symptomatic patients in their Bushnell location only, by appointment.

They also are running two nasal swab collection community testing events, no symptoms required but an appointment is, in Wildwood for a total of 6 hours on Jul 20 and Jul 22

Wildwood Community Center COVID-19 testing | Florida Department of Health in Sumter

So that is the answer to why people stand in line for testing. There are not other options that entail less time or effort. I would strongly encourage people who go to that kind community screening events to wear a mask and social distance. You can be nearly certain that you are going to be exposed to Covid in that environment.

[TraceyMooreRN]

Originally Posted by fastboat

Most Urgent Care locations provide Covid testing and it's a blood test, nothing jammed up your nose. You have to wait 3-4 days for results but it's a walk in, almost no wait whatsoever.

So, A little more education:

Blood Test= test for antibodies (meaning that you have been exposed to the virus at some point. Fact: nobody knows how long you will have antibodies protecting you against obtaining the virus in the future). The specificity of the test of antibodies is still not high enough for complete accuracy, so you have false negatives and false positives.

Nasal Swab= Only tells you if you have an ACTIVE infection, this means you can shed the virus to others regardless if you are having symptoms or not...

Obtaining "test" of any kind without symptoms doesn't make sense to me. The only time I see relevant is when it is required or helping peace of mind for the inquiring mind. Some nursing homes are requiring test every two weeks to be able enter to see love ones. Some people are driving themselves crazy with wanting to know.

Those who test negative with will eventually enter the grocery store, play community sports and be exposed to other people. Thus, exposure causes the virus. Continue to use precautions and report any symptoms to your family doctor.

[ldivens]

why are people getting tested if they are not sick or in contact with anyone sick or tested positive? I was in contact with someone who was exposed, they were tested and were negative. Are people just fearful they may have it, because the test is a period in time, just because you test negative doesn't mean you cannot get it two weeks from now. I wonder if these places getting paid from Medicare if positive? Hospitals are getting thousands of dollars for positive patients and positive deaths.

[Indydealmaker]

Originally Posted by Investment Painting Contractors

I'm Confused since my insurance and Medicare pay for testing, why do people stand in line for hours and complain. Just curious. Len

Far more uninformed in this area than you would expect. This could be the result of depending upon mainstream media as the sole source of information.

[pcacace]

You can walk into Paramount urgent care w out an spot and be tested. You mind not even have to pay your your co pay. Call your ins co. UHC Medicare is paying until July 24. It was on their website.

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by TraceyMooreRN

Obtaining "test" of any kind without symptoms doesn't make sense to me. The only time I see relevant is when it is required or helping peace of mind for the inquiring mind.

You answered your own question there. However wouldn't it be good to know if one is asymptomatic and spreading the virus to everyone they come up to especially if NOT wearing masks which seems to be a largely political issue?

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by fastboat

Most Urgent Care locations provide Covid testing and it's a blood test, nothing jammed up your nose. You have to wait 3-4 days for results but it's a walk in, almost no wait whatsoever.

I'm under the impression the active Covid disease test is a naso pharyngeal swab. The test for Covid anitibodies is a blood test. Anyone know if I'm not correct?

[EdFNJ]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

I'm under the impression the active Covid disease test is a naso pharyngeal swab. The test for Covid anitibodies is a blood test. Anyone know if I'm not correct?

Yes, plus more. See bottom of linked page and page 2 here: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Testing

[Altavia]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

I'm under the impression the active Covid disease test is a naso pharyngeal swab. The test for Covid anitibodies is a blood test. Anyone know if I'm not correct?

Test for Current Infection
Viral tests check samples from your respiratory system, such as a swab from the inside of your nose, to tell you if you currently have an infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Some tests are point-of-care tests, meaning results may be available at the testing site in less than an hour. Other tests must be sent to a laboratory to analyze, a process that takes 1–2 days once received by the lab.

Test for Past Infection (Antibody Test)
Antibody tests check your blood by looking for antibodies, which may tell you if you had a past infection with the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are proteins that help fight off infections and can provide protection against getting that disease again (immunity). Antibodies are disease specific. For example, measles antibodies will protect you from getting measles if you are exposed to it again, but they won’t protect you from getting mumps if you are exposed to mumps.

Except in instances in which viral testing is delayed, antibody tests should not be used to diagnose a current COVID-19 infection. An antibody test may not show if you have a current COVID-19 infection because it can take 1–3 weeks after infection for your body to make antibodies. To see if you are currently infected, you need a viral test. Viral tests identify the virus in samples from your respiratory system, such as a swab from the inside of your nose.

Testing for COVID-19 | CDC

Viral testing now can be a swab sample from the nose, the Abbott Rapid test given at Wallgreens is an example.