Get Tested for COVID-19: It's More Than Slowing the Spread

Over 100 days have passed since COVID-19 forced most of the United States into various measures of quarantine. People across the country spent months indoors, socially distancing, and donning masks in public. We've adapted to this "new normal" with the hope of reducing the transmission of a virus that rapidly infected our cities, swept through communities using symptomatic and asymptomatic people as vehicles, and overwhelmed major hospital systems.

Public health experts and scientists have advised us on ways to prevent contracting and transmitting this disease and many of us have taken this advice. We wash our hands longer and more frequently, we use gloves and other barriers when touching surfaces in public, we wipe down grocery items and delivery packages, and we disinfect doorknobs, light switches, and other routinely touched surfaces in our homes. Many of us are healthy because we have taken these steps and we must continue. But as more is learned about how this disease is transmitted and as we acknowledge the large number of infected people who are asymptomatic, the best way to ensure your health and protect those around you is to get tested.

As states around the U.S. lift stay at home orders, restaurants, clubs, and retail establishments open their doors, and summer peaks and the first day of school is within sight, getting tested is more important now than ever. We have seen infection rates increase as restrictions and behaviors loosen, which further validates the public health advice that we have received these past few months. Next, we must get tested to confirm our health status, support the process of contact tracing, and to inform us of who we may need to temporarily avoid. Getting tested is about much more than slowing the spread of the virus. It is about saving lives.

The combination of quarantine fatigue, summer calling us out of our homes, and access to our favorite places puts us at greater risk for exposure. Knowing your health status will help more people than you may think. You could also be the determining factor for someone else to get tested. Get tested, encourage others to get tested, and continue to practice enhanced cleaning methods.

Get tested and save lives.

Michael Rafferty

CEO & President

New Detroit