The CDC Has Changed Coronavirus Testing Guidance, But WA Will Not

SEATTLE, WA — Earlier this week, the Centers for Disease Control reversed previous coronavirus safety guidelines to dramatically cut down on the number of people who are tested for the virus.

From the beginning of the pandemic, the CDC had advised health departments to test everyone who had been within six feet of an infected person for more than 15 minutes. But on Monday, following new guidelines from a White House task force, the CDC reversed course, issuing an update saying that testing is no longer recommended for those who have been in close contact with coronavirus patients, as long as they show no symptoms.

Since then, the change in guidance has been met with widespread backlash from the medical community, many of whom say it makes no sense, considering that as many as 40 percent of coronavirus patients can be asymptomatic.

“I was taken aback and didn’t know that it was under consideration,” John Auerbach, president of Trust for America’s Health, told the Associated Press. “The recommendation not to test asymptomatic people who likely have been exposed is not in accord with the science.”

Now, Washington is weighing in. The state Department of Health has issued a statement confirming they will not be changing their guidelines to match the new testing guidance from the CDC's:

"The Washington State Department of Health’s guidance around testing has not changed: if you have symptoms, you need to get tested. If you’re a close contact of a confirmed case, you need to get tested. Close contacts of confirmed cases also need to stay at home away from others (quarantine) for 14 days after the last exposure even if they test negative for COVID-19, because it is possible for people who test negative to still be incubating the virus, and become contagious later."

Gov. Jay Inslee also shared his thoughts online, saying the change would cause Washington to miss "thousands of new cases and allow the virus to spread."

The DOH does note that patients who have been exposed to the virus may want to wait five to six days before getting tested. That's because it takes a few days for the virus to incubate and grow to a level that can be detected on a test, and earlier tests may result in a false negative.

The Washington State Department of Health also says that there are an abundance of ways to receive coronavirus tests in the evergreen state, and that the system is in no danger of being overloaded by too many tests. They advise everyone who is concerned they have the virus or may have been exposed to contact their health care providers or call their county health department to find a testing location. Additionally, testing will remain free for anyone who is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms or has been in close contact with a confirmed coronavirus case.

More than 1,380,000 coronavirus tests have been performed in Washington state alone since the pandemic began, and widespread testing has been a key part of the state's attempts to contain the virus— providing the foundation for contact tracing to isolate those exposed to the virus and a key metric for determining when counties can move forward to the latter phases of the Safe Start plan.

“Testing is a key piece of our state’s disease control strategy because it helps us identify and control the spread of COVID-19,” Dr. Kathy Lofy, the state health officer, said. “Continued testing will keep us on the path toward containment and a return to a new normal sooner rather than later.”