By now, many of us have experienced a covid19 positive test. The most common one is the swab placed deep in the sinus cavity. You may have taken the test because you had symptoms or perhaps, you were exposed at work and you just wanted to check and make sure you do not infect others. Covid19 has many of us on high alert since for a small portion of the population, it can be deadly. Recently, the CDC had said that only 6 percent of those who died from covid19 may have had complications from a number of other health factors. This of course has lead to speculation concerning the true reason they died. Strangely enough, hospitals were filled with patients dying from Covid19, yet cardiac and other types of patients were not showing up at the ER. It seemed, everyone was just classified as covid19 at the time. Perhaps, this clarification by the CDC helps us better understand how many people died from covid19, or maybe not. My son had covid19 in April and recovered quickly. I was exposed to him, got tested, and was positive. yet my antibody tests which were done a few weeks later and were all negative, and the second covid19 test was negative 10 days later. I was totally asymptomatic the entire time. If this sounds confusing, even more concerning is that only a small portion of the population that has covid19 seems to be causing the mass infections we continue to read about. Was your test valid? Was it too sensitive? Did it take too long to get your result for it to be diagnostically valid or traceable? If they found covid19 in your sinuses, does that mean you are infected? Newer tests including those from Fluidigm which tests sputum and can let you know the findings may be a more accurate predictor of who is infecting others and has the virus. Another test, which is more like a breathalyzer used to detect alcohol on a drunk driver may also be more accurate. A third less sensitive test which is inexpensive to administer may be helpful to curtail infections at work and at school. Scientists are rethinking the idea of who is infected, and who can potentially harm and infect others. Your positive test under the new rules may not actually have been positive. Confused? Check out this article from the NY Times regarding covid19 testing and a rethinking of what a test result may actually mean. Your Coronavirus Test Is Positive. Maybe It Shouldn’t Be. The usual diagnostic tests may simply be too sensitive and too slow to contain the spread of the virus. By Apoorva Mandavilli Aug. 29, 2020 Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus. Most of these people are not likely to be contagious, and identifying them may contribute to bottlenecks that prevent those who are contagious from being found in time. But researchers say the solution is not to test less, or to skip testing people without symptoms, as recently suggested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Read more