Getting A Coronavirus Test To Make Visiting Family Safe? Not So Fast

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.

As people start to travel again, many think to get a diagnostic test before leaving to find out if they are infected. This approach may not work as well as many think, however. First off, the length of time it takes to get results back is up to a week or more in many places. For this reason, even a negative test result is not indicative of your current status because you may have been exposed to the virus between the time you took the test and got your results back. Additionally, the PCR test is highly accurate in a laboratory setting, but not as much in the real world. Studies have shown that a negative diagnostic test result can be wrong between 5% and 40% of the time, depending on the circumstances. For this reason, the safest way to travel is to quarantine yourself for 14 days prior to leaving. Overall, experts highlight that while testing can and should play a role in your decision making, it is important to recognize the shortcomings of testing and always take precautions.