CoVid Q & A

How reliable is CoVid 19 testing?

False positives are extremely rare; less than 2% per the CDC. False negatives are usually caused by the person having a recent exposure (less than two days), so there aren’t enough antigens in their system for the test to detect. This is why we test twice a week when the facility is in the “red zone”.

How do the zones work and what do they mean?

The zones for nursing facilities are determined by the number of active positive cases in the county per 10,000 persons. In the green zone, nursing facilities are required to test staff once per month. In the yellow zone, staff must be tested once a week. In the red zone, staff must be tested twice a week and testing now is required for staff to work regardless of the zone. Nursing Facilities are also required to conduct point prevalence testing once a week if a staff or resident has tested positive. In this case, residents are quarantined to their rooms with isolation precautions to minimize the spread of Co-Vid 19 in the facility. The facility needs two weeks in a row of all negative test results for both residents and staff to discontinue the quarantine (allow residents to move around the building, go back to the dining room, open up the beauty shop, etc.) and discontinue point prevalence testing.

If a person has tested positive for CoVid 19 but doesn’t have symptoms, does that mean they don’t have CoVid 19?

No, false positives are extremely rare. Many people who have CoVid 19 don’t develop symptoms; 81% of people who test positive for CoVid are asymptomatic according to the CDC. People who are younger and healthy are less likely to develop symptoms. Older people and/or people with other health problems are more likely to develop symptoms, become sicker or die.

If a person who tested positive for CoVid 19 is asymptomatic, they are still contagious and need to quarantine so they do not spread it other people.

When staff or a resident test positive, why aren’t they retested before returning to work or moved off a CoVid unit?

People who have had a positive CoVid 19 test are not retested for 90 days, since they still have antigens in their system and will continue to test positive even though they are no longer contagious. Per the Center for Disease Control and the Minnesota Department of Health, CoVid 19 test results and signs/symptoms are used to determine when a person is no longer contagious and can return to work or move off a CoVid unit.

How does CoVid 19 impact the residents?

According to the Center for Disease Control, 8 out 10 deaths due to CoVid are people 65 or older; therefore, residents residing in nursing facilities or assisted living facilities are at the highest risk of death if they contract CoVid 19.

Please let us know if you have any other questions about CoVid 19 you would like addressed. Thank you so much for all your effort to keep our residents, staff and community safe!Morris Health Services