Introduction:

The Coronavirus Community of Practice and our panel of speakers and reaction panelists were introduced. Leaders of first responder groups including security, police, and university emergency response provided commentary on the implementation of testing.

A Commentary of Testing Questions

Dr. Gregory Botz, a co-founder of the Med Tac Bystander Rescue Care program who is a professor of anesthesia and critical care at MD Anderson Cancer Center, chief medical officer of the University of Texas Police Department, and adjunct professor of anesthesia at Stanford Medical College comments on the COVID testing questions we address.

The Right Test at the Right Time

We address viral load and the detail regarding the utility of RT-PCR or what are called PCR tests, the Rapid Antigen test, NAAT tests, and antibody tests. Once the science of the tests is understood, the value of the use of Rapid Antigen Tests and PCR tests and their timing become clear.

Testing for Quarantine & Isolation

We address the latest guidelines regarding Quarantine and Isolation from the CDC. The CDC soft advice of the testing option are addressed. Public health and scientists are recommending testing being used to assess infectiousness with the knowledge that there is a certain false-negative rate, and that serial testing is advisable following the manufacturer’s guidelines.

Safer Gatherings with Testing

There is much we can do to make family gatherings safer. We will never be 100% Safe. In this section we address how testing can be integrated into a plan that implements the COVID safe practices of distance, masking, hand hygiene, disinfecting high contact surfaces, and avoiding poorly ventilated areas. Given aerosol spread is the major mode of transmission, we address the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks that need to be understood.

Test to Stay at Work

There is much we can do to make family gatherings safer. We will never be 100% Safe. In this section we address how testing can be integrated into a plan that implements the COVID safe practices of distance, masking, hand hygiene, disinfecting high contact surfaces, and avoiding poorly ventilated areas. Given aerosol spread is the major mode of transmission, we address the threats, vulnerabilities, and risks that need to be understood.

Test to Travel

We take a typical business traveler loop or the travel loop that family members may take to go for a visit to a destination. We address integrating testing and the COVID safe practices into the travel plans and how a trip may be made safer – reducing the likelihood of getting infected and most importantly not infecting colleagues or family members when a person returns home.

COVID Testing Fraud & Scams

There are an enormous number of fraudsters preying on unsuspecting consumers in the COVID ecosystem. They include test sites that may not even run a test, produce fake test results, sell false vaccination documentation, and even steal personal identities. We play a short warning video from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.