Florida has new guidelines outlining who should be tested for COVID-19 and who should not be tested

According to Johns Hopkins Hospital, which has provided the most accurate information throughout the pandemic, The positivity rate in Florida last week was 32 percent. More than 1.1 million tests have been registered, of which nearly 400,000 have been positive. That’s not counting all those who took the home test, and whose data no one can follow.

in the county Miami County – Daddy, the most populous in the state, the numbers were slightly lower, but they are also worrying. a 28 percent of the tests were positive. This takes on another dimension if we consider that just five weeks ago, the positivity rate was less than one percent.

To put it in no uncertain terms, So far, nearly all Florida residents have had close contact with someone with COVID. Therefore, it is understood that given the national shortage of home antigen tests, coronavirus testing centers are overcrowded.

the Florida He said that right now They don’t plan to open more centers so people can get tested. However, many municipalities, such as the city of Miami for example, do so with the expectation that with more options, attendance of the lines will be no more than two hours.

In the midst of this context, the state Ministry of Health decided to publish a Specific guidelines for indicating who needs to be tested for COVID 19, highlighting the order of priority.

The first thing the state health authorities have highlighted is a Divide the population into three categories: Those who belong Current risk and symptom categories (over 65 years and people with pre-existing diseases), those who It does not belong to the risk categories and has symptoms, And those who are No visible symptoms.

According to the new country guide:

Those who belong to the most vulnerable groups of the population and have symptoms are those who They should be tested for COVID 19 immediately.

– those who show symptoms but do not belong to the high-risk groups, They need to consider taking the test.

– But the main demand of the state is asymptomatic: Please avoid going to the exam Because “testing for COVID 19 will certainly not have any clinical benefit to them.”

When there is an endemic respiratory virus, the situation should be to continue with a normal life. “If symptoms develop, that’s when a person should get tested to see what happens,” the governor said at a news conference from West Palm Beach. Ron DeSantis.

In this new guide, there is a change in the rhetoric of Florida health authorities regarding what they recommended months ago. it is known that Many people who are asymptomatic can be infected and spread the COVID 19 virus. That is why I recommend that anyone who suspects they may have been exposed to the virus be tested. But the situation has changed and there is no same availability of reagents for testing as before, which is why the recommendations have changed.

Anyway, this should be clarified These new categories are just recommendations and that in Florida in all test centers the test is given freely to those who request it.

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