Millions of people are believed to have traveled over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend despite warnings from public health officials that they should stay home due to a steady and alarming rise in COVID-19 cases.
Now, experts say, those who took flights or attended group Thanksgiving celebrations should get tested to prevent the kind of long, deadly winter that experts fear may be coming.
Because the virus can be transmitted before symptoms show, it’s important to quarantine after potential exposures, said Dr. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist Hospital.
“Many people continue to go out and go about their daily life and potentially spread the virus to others without being aware of it,” he said. “If you’ve been around people outside of your household and had potential exposure, you need to isolate until you can get a well-timed test to make sure you’re negative.”
Those considering getting a COVID-19 test after celebrating Thanksgiving with a group should wait about five days before taking the test in order to get accurate results, according to Harris County Public Health officials. That’s about how long it takes for the virus to become detectable on a test.
One of the most challenging aspects of testing is timing, Long said.
“All tests do a better job of detecting the virus in symptomatic people, especially rapid tests,” he said. “If you don’t have symptoms, you need to wait in general a couple of days before there is likely enough virus for a test to detect it in your body.”
When someone starts to feel ill, however, they should go ahead and get a test regardless of how long ago they may have been exposed.
The more than 1 million travelers screened by the Transportation Security Administration at U.S. airport security checkpoints Sunday represented more people than were recorded on any single day of the coronavirus pandemic.
Long-distance travel isn’t the only worry for epidemiologists. Small local gatherings also posed a threat. An estimated 48 million people were expected to drive to a Thanksgiving celebration, according to AAA.
Before the holiday, the rate of new cases in the Houston region was already nearing the same levels as seen during the summer, according to a Chronicle analysis. In November, there were 1,680 COVID-19 hospitalizations, an 85 percent increase compared to October. It may be several weeks for the effects of Thanksgiving gatherings to be felt in the Houston area and across the country.
“We might see a super-surge imposed on that surge that we’re already in,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious diseases expert, warned Sunday.
Free COVID-19 testing sites
Harris County offers free COVID-19 testing, including new mobile sites that will be open for a limited time this week.
-M.O. Campbell Education Center at 1865 Aldine Bender, FM 525 is open from noon to 7 p.m. Mondays through Fridays and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
-A mobile site will open at Parkway Baptist Church, 12818 Tidwell Road, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Saturday.
-A mobile site will open at Pirates Bay Waterpark, 5300 East Road in Baytown, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
-A mobile site will open at Memorial Drive Lutheran Church, 12211 Memorial Drive, from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday.
-Trader’s Village at 7979 N. Eldridge Parkway is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Friday.
-Planet Ford Stadium, 23802 Cypresswood Drive in Spring, is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. from through Wednesday.
-Grayson Community Center, 13828 Corpus Christi St., from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Friday.
-Sam Houston Race Park, 7575 North Sam Houston Parkway, will open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday.
-San Jacinto College Central Campus, 8060 Spencer Highway in Pasadena, will open from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. To register to test at this site, go to DoINeedaCovid19Test.com or call 832-927-7575. This site only tests people over age 13.
-Katy Park, 24927 Morton Road in Katy, is open from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday. To register to test at this site, go to doineedacovid19test.com or call 832-927-7575. This site only tests people over age 13.
The safest option after sharing Thanksgiving with a group of people is to self-isolate for two weeks, Long said.
“But that’s incredibly difficult for people to do, especially if they have to work or need to use child care,” he added.
A reasonable compromise, Long said, is quarantining for four to five days, getting tested and waiting for a negative result before returning to activities in public.
Dr. David Persse, Houston’s health authority, said Monday that until recently it was estimated that about 40 percent of infected people didn’t show any symptoms.
But because the average age of people infected with the virus has gone down in the Houston region and nationally, so has the rate of symptomatic people, Persse said. That’s because younger people are less likely to show symptoms when they have it.
“There are now estimates that the number of people infected without symptoms may be as high as 55 percent,” he said. “If you’re one of those folks, you won’t know unless you get tested. So, get tested frequently.”
November was the second-busiest month for COVID-19 testing at city-affiliated sites since the pandemic began, according to Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner. More than 90,800 people were tested Nov. 1 to 28.
Long said the best way to avoid spreading the virus is to continue to avoid gatherings, especially indoors.
“It’s important for everyone to stay the course and keep doing all the things we’ve learned that work,” he said. “I know it’s hard and I know people are tired. There’s a vaccine around the corner and we need to wait for it to be rolled out at good rates before we can move into a post-COVID era.”
All testing is free at Harris County Public Health sites. To find a testing site near you and to register, visit hcphtx.org or call 832-927-7575.
hannah.dellinger@chron.com
twitter.com/hdellingermedia
"wait" - Google News
December 01, 2020 at 11:35AM
https://ift.tt/2KUhjDL
Why you should wait a few days before getting that after-Thanksgiving COVID test - Houston Chronicle
"wait" - Google News
https://ift.tt/35qAU4J
https://ift.tt/2Ssyayj
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Why you should wait a few days before getting that after-Thanksgiving COVID test - Houston Chronicle"
Post a Comment