WHERE CAN I GET TESTED FOR COVID 19?
There are a few options for FREE COVID testing.
There are also pop-up testing sites. The locations are updated weekly throughout Santa Clara County.
Project baseline by Verily is another COVID testing program offered free of charge. This post will be updated periodically as more information is available.
If you have questions about COVID or COVID testing, send us an email at min.md@outlook.com.
ARE FABRIC MASKS EFFECTIVE FOR THE PREVENTION OF CORONAVIRUS DISEASE IN 2019?
The National Academies of Sciences reviewed the evidence for the effectiveness of homemade fabric masks in preventing the spread of influenza and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SAR-CoV-2), in a report published on April 8, 2020. These viruses can be spread by visible and invisible droplets as small as 5µm and even smaller bioaerosols. The size that is the most dangerous is unknown. Effectiveness depends on how the mask is made and how well it is made. The fit must be as tight as possible to prevent leakage. Patients should consider filtration efficiency and how much the mask impedes breathing (i.e., wearability). Seven studies evaluated the ability of the mask to protect the wearer or to prevent the spread of infection from a wearer. Performance ranged from very poor to reducing exposure to the wearer by approximately 60% depending on the material used. A study found a filtration of only 0.7% of 0.3 µm-sized particles for a four-layer woven handkerchief fabric, 35.3% for a five-layer woven brushed fabric, and 50% for a four-layer polyester-knitted cut-pile fabric. A recent study of patients infected with SARCoV-2 found that surgical and cotton masks were not effective at blocking the virus from disseminating during coughing. On the other hand, two studies of cotton mask wearers suggest moderate protection against inhalation of infectious-sized particles. In the only randomized trial performed on health care workers, two-layer cotton masks were much less effective than medical masks (three layers of nonwoven material) in protecting from respiratory infection (relative risk = 13).
TESTING FOR COVID-19
Two kinds of tests are available for COVID-19: viral tests and antibody tests.
A viral test tells you if you have a current infection.
An antibody test may not be able to show if you have a current infection, because it can take 1-3 weeks after infection to make antibodies. We do not know yet if having antibodies to the virus can protect someone from getting infected with the virus again, or how long that protection might last.
If you test positive with a serology test
A positive test result indicates you have antibodies that likely resulted from infection from the COVID-19 virus. Testing positive for antibodies without a history of having had symptoms of COVID-19 is possible. this is called asymptomatic infection, an infection without symptoms.
If you test negative with a serology test
If you test negative for COVID-19 antibodies, you probably did not have a previous infection or your infection was too recent and antibodies are not yet detectible. Some people may take even longer to develop antibodies.