COVID19 Testing: Why it is important and how you can do it for free:
On June 23, 2020 in Baker, LA Southeast Community Health Systems conducted another round of COVID19 testing for free. This was the second time volunteers from their organization have provided this service to the community and we are very appreciative.
Many may ask, why get tested? If you do not feel ill, that is understandable however if you do have any symptoms it is recommended that you do pursue testing.
Symptoms are:
- Fever or chills
- Cough
- Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
- Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
- Headache
- New loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
- Nausea or vomiting
- Diarrhea
As cases continue to increase we must increase testing because large-scale testing allows health services to quickly identify who has the disease and arrange for them to receive the care needed.
This allows healthcare professionals and the person infected to isolate when it becomes known they have contracted COVID19 and that prevents them from coming into contact with others which slows the spread of the disease.
The more tests that are performed on persons that have any symptoms lets the scientific and professional healthcare community understand how wide spread the disease is and how it is evolving.
By being tested we can find out where the disease is or is not increasing and that helps community leaders make evidence-based decisions to try to slow the spread of the disease.
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