COVID-19 home testing as important as ever, infectious disease specialist says
Dr. Lisa Barrett says people should keep a supply of rapid tests on hand and check their expiry dates
Almost four years into the pandemic many people have been taking a more carefree approach to COVID-19.
Dr. Lisa Barrett, an infectious diseases specialist and assistant professor at Dalhousie's School of Medicine, says it's important to still be vigilant.
Barrett told Portia Clark of CBC Radio's Information Morning Nova Scotia that keeping a supply of COVID-19 rapid tests at home is as necessary as ever.
Their conversation has been edited for clarity and length.
Is it still accurate to call this a pandemic depending on the phase we are in now?
We are still in a pandemic [but] we're not in the emergency phase of it anymore. I'm referring to COVID-19 in particular.
We think about it a little bit differently but this is still a new virus. We have lots of tools to be able to help manage it but it hasn't become that completely seasonal virus that we see with influenza and other things.
It's still a pandemic , it's still something to think about.
Before you go to a hospital or health facility it would be important to test for COVID-19, there's a certain level of indifference about getting COVID-19 tests right now. What's your advice?
I wouldn't be indifferent and there are a couple of reasons for that.
Our hospitals right now are very, very full. Part of that is respiratory viruses and part of that is other things.
If you're going to go to a hospital, go if you're ... having difficulty breathing.
You can do things for yourself at home and one of those things is getting tested.
It is useful to know if you have COVID-19 and often, these days, the home tests are positive later, so if you test at home because you have symptoms and it's negative the advice from public health is still to stay at home and test again.
Because one test is negative doesn't mean you have COVID-19. Tests are still important, tests are still useful.
Do you have to wait until after you know your infection has passed, or is likely to pass, to get a booster?
That interval is still present.
It's not because we don't have enough COVID-19 [vaccine] doses or we don't want people getting them, it's because we know that you get the most bang for your buck with the vaccine if you wait the recommended duration of time in between.
Otherwise your immune system has already gotten a good boost from a natural infection which is another reason to test.
We want you to wait and get the most [from the vaccine] and that means waiting the recommended amount of time in between.
The rapid tests that we've had may be sitting in the cupboard for a while now. Are they still useful? What's their shelf life and how can you tell?
They'll have an expiry date on them and if they are expiring I wouldn't necessarily use them. I would get new ones.
We have lots in Nova Scotia.
Take a look around your favourite public market, grocery store, your pharmacies in some places, MLA offices, lots of places to find rapid tests.
You can go online and you can find some places to get them.
Reach out, get some and if you've got older people at home who have mobility issues or anyone who is not getting out and about make sure you pick up some extra tests for them.
We want people to have them at home before they get sick so they're present and you can test and test again.
This is a helpful thing to do for yourself and the province.
PCR tests are still being offered. Who can get a PCR test?
Some people coming into hospitals can get them. Usually it is folks who are older, or have immunocompromised state or have some other condition like pregnancy.
It's not generally for anyone out there, but if you have concerns check in with your medical provider and ask them what you should do.
There's a number in the province to call and ask what to do.
With the current circulating virus it's still very protective to get a COVID-19 vaccine. It won't protect you from getting infected probably, but has a great deal of impact in keeping you from going to hospital or dying.
I've seen a ton of people lately that didn't get a dose this fall and I'm seeing them in hospital. I'd love to not see them in hospital.
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With files from Information Morning Nova Scotia