The omicron variant continues to surge throughout the United States, requiring millions of Americans to get tested for COVID-19.
- But there aren’t a lot of tests out there right now. So what should you do?
Epidemiologist Dr. Michael Mina, the chief medical officer for the telehealth company eMed, told CNN there’s an immediate step you need to take.
- “The important thing is, when you feel symptoms, assume you’re positive at this point, especially with Omicron being so prevalent,” Mina said.
Mina said people may take a rapid test and see a faint line on it to indicate a positive infection. But even a light infection is still a COVID-19 infection.
- “Does it mean you’re going to walk into a room and be a superspreader? No. But does it mean that you should go to your 90-year-old grandmother and hug her? I would say no, I wouldn’t do that. I would not want to personally be sitting next to somebody who’s still positive in any way on these tests,” Mina told CNN.
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A recent study — by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the department of microbiology at Oslo University Hospital in Oslo, Norway — looked into how fast the omicron variant can spread.
- Overall, the study found that there’s a median three-day window from exposure of the omicron variant to omicron variant symptoms, as I wrote for the Deseret News.