COVID-19 Testing

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Anchor lead: Accurate testing for COVID-19 is essential,
Elizabeth Tracey reports

Rapid test kits for COVID-19 in the US distributed early
this year may have some flaws, recent reports indicate. Brian Garibaldi, a
critical care medicine expert at Johns Hopkins, says he’s convinced those
issues have been corrected.

Garibaldi: Rapid diagnosis is essential for identifying
cases, putting into place public health measures that we know work, doing
contact tracing, asking people to self-isolate, so being able to test more
rapidly and have a quicker turnaround time will really aid in our ability to
prevent spreading of this virus.  :15

Garibaldi offers a reality check relative to infection with
COVID-19.

Garibaldi: We’re still in the middle of what has been a
particularly bad flu season and its much more likely that people will come into
contact with other people who have the flu. Things that you do to protect
yourself against colds and respiratory viruses in winter months, particularly
the flu, are going to protect you against this current virus.  :17

At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.