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COVID-19 Testing Should Be as Simple as Breathing Out
Rapid breathalyzer tests detect volatile molecules associated with infection or the vibrations of viruses themselves.
I see my mother-in-law every week. She is 93 years old with various medical conditions that put her at risk for COVID-19. After attending an outdoor event at a friend’s house, I really wanted to be able to test myself for COVID-19 before seeing her. But, right now there is now way to get a test and results fast enough for that to happen.
The event was outside with well-spaced tables on the lawn. To address the issue of food, they hired a food truck, which I thought was brilliant. There was a keg of beer and wine in bottles that each person dispensed for themselves or beverages in cans or bottles were also available in a cooler. Hand sanitizer was at the beverage station.
Most of the people were in either the age group of the friends of the graduate or the our age group, that of his parents (our friends). A few were older and definitely in the high-risk of COVID-19 age group.
Some people arrived wearing face coverings; some did not. Some people were wearing face coverings or masks whenever they were at the food or beverage area or on the deck, which was crowded. But many people were not wearing face coverings at all, especially the friends of the graduate.
People generally wore face coverings when ordering at the food truck. However, face coverings had to be removed to eat and drink, of course. As the event proceeded, fewer and fewer face coverings were actually being used.
There was a band. So, in addition to the difficulty of understanding someone who is speaking while wearing a mask, there was the difficulty of being able to hear over the band. You had to be well within the 6-foot distance to have conversation.
After this event, even though I wore my mask except when eating or drinking or with people in my “social bubble,” I felt as if I could have been exposed to COVID-19.
It takes about 4–5 days after exposure to have enough virus to be detected by the currently available tests and it can take as long as 10–14 days or as short as 2 days to get results. Given…
