Here’s why you shouldn’t test for COVID

 

By Kim Marquardt, RN MSN

This blog post is from the Nurse Kim archives of myth busting. I want to share some "alternative" or maybe just lesser known health and wellness viewpoints for you to chew on.

*These posts are not intended as official medical advice.

They ARE meant to be fun, informative, and thought provoking, hopefully sparking an interest for you to do your own research (you can start with the links I provide!) and discover the marvels of the human body, and how it can function at its optimal performance level if we understand how it works and interacts with our environment and our diet.

I have a passion for health and wellness through lifestyle and nutrition and have done thousands of hours of research in addition to being a registered nurse for 23 years. I have done A LOT of self-experimentation in and around diet, lifestyle, body care, and supplementation and have spent a lot of time looking into the science behind it all (or lack thereof!). Check back weekly for the latest post!

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Is this a shocking statement from a medical professional? Possibly. But let’s just get through the whole post and then you can decide for yourself.

Let’s get right to it… I am going to state the claim that COVID testing actually makes the probability of people spreading COVID and other upper respiratory viruses MORE likely than not testing.

Rapid COVID antigen tests have about a 73% specificity for detecting someone who actually has the virus. That means at any given time, 27% of individuals WHO HAVE COVID, test negative and are therefore empowered to go out into the world and continue their lives as usual.

I tested negative for COVID the first 3 days I was infected. I happened to have a pretty good hunch that I had COVID due to the fact that I had (mild) symptoms and my entire family had tested positive, and therefore rightly stayed home. But according to the CDC, since I tested negative, I was free to roam around the community for those 3 days, WHEN I WAS THE MOST INFECTIOUS, spreading the virus.

Even if I hadn’t had COVID (which I did eventually test positive for) and just had a cold or flu, I would have been spreading THAT virus around the community, potentially to those at highest risk for complications from ANY upper respiratory virus. 

But who cares, cause it's not COVID, right? 

Well, considering the flu actually kills MORE young people ages 0-14 than COVID does, that seems like a pretty faulty decision making strategy.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7474915/

No other country continues to recommend COVID testing to the general public. But here in the US, we like to be special. 

😒 

Let’s get back to common sense...

Stay home when you are sick. When you are better, resume your life as usual. 

Advocates should be promoting paid sick leave instead of COVID testing. This would result in better public health outcomes. Don’t even get me started on the fact that mass testing has NEVER been shown in any study to improve outcomes. Don’t you think the testing companies making billions off these tests should have to prove that? I do. 

Well, as in true Nurse Kim fashion, I have started asking questions when things don’t make any sense, and I hope I have encouraged you to do the same. Stay safe this cold and flu season and do your part to keep the community safe as well.

Until next time.