NPR

I Want To Expand My Social Bubble. Should I Get A Coronavirus Test First?

If you want to socialize with family or friends — say share a vacation cabin — can testing in advance keep everyone safe? We asked experts how diagnostic tests work and how to interpret the results.
Going to stay with family means exposing more than one household. Can testing in advance keep everyone safe?

Let's face it, if you've been staying home a lot, you're probably pretty tired of looking at the same faces. Love them as we do, it feels like well past time to start seeing other people, to visit or host relatives and dear friends. So how can you do this without unknowingly spreading the virus or getting exposed?

Recently my husband and I debated this when our son, who lives in another state, said he'd like to come home for a visit. He lives with roommates in a city with a high rate of infection, and he works in a restaurant. We thought of having him get a diagnostic test to find out if he is infected. That way, if he got back a negative test, our problems would be solved, right?

Well, when I called up a few infectious disease specialists to ask if this all made sense, I discovered that using a

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