CLEVELAND — Six months since the coronavirus surfaced around the world, medical professionals here in Cleveland share what they’re learning about the virus.
University Hospitals Dr. Keith Armitage believes the most important, recent discovery involves testing, especially patients testing positive even weeks after an initial positive test.
“When people get over a COVID-19 illness, they can still test positive for three to four weeks. And we’ve learned those tests don’t mean anything.” Armitage said.” Those are just little, tiny particles of the viral RNA. You’re not contagious, you can’t infect anybody, you can’t get it twice.”
According to Dr. Armitage, a new study out of the United Kingdom also suggests corticosteroids have shown positive results in treating seriously Ill COVID-19 patients who need oxygen replacement therapy .
With the coronavirus pandemic not yet under control in the United States and confirmed cases on the rise across the country, Dr. Christine Schmotzer from University Hospitals believes increasing testing helps experts learn more and more about the virus.
“Honestly, the more we test, the more we can slow the spread.” Schmotzer said.”I don’t think there’s a particular benefit to under diagnosing or not knowing how much of this disease is out there.”
According to Dr. Schmotzer, know where and who you’re getting a test from before getting a COVID-19 or antibody test.
“Work with your healthcare providers, talk with the labs to make sure you are getting any of those tests in conjunction with your healthcare provider so you can know the trustworthiness of the result.” Schmotzer said.
The labs should be approved by the FDA because Dr. Smotzer believes that’s the only way to ensure an accurate results.
There is also now near universal belief in the medical community that wearing a mask helps stop the spread of the virus.
“It’s unfortunate that in our country, some of the measures like masks have sort of become political.” Armitage said.” Blame the pandemic, not the mask."
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