What a Negative COVID-19 Test Really Means
We know very little about how reliable tests are for people who don’t feel sick.
by Sarah Zhang
Jun 21, 2020
3 minutes
You go out to a bar with friends this week, and you’re planning to visit your elderly relatives in a few days. You feel healthy, and you even get a COVID-19 test out of caution. The result comes back negative. Is it safe to go?
Not exactly, experts say. How well COVID-19 tests work in people who feel healthy is still a key unknown of the pandemic. The test may overlook the small but growing amounts of virus in someone who has, a disease ecologist at UC Santa Cruz, says.
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