NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Since November, Percentric, a private medical practice exclusively for businesses, has conducted more than 500 rapid COVID-19 tests in the Hampton Roads area.
Founder and CEO Dr. Bryan Fine told WAVY.com they’ve learned a lot. “There seems to be this hard line that says ‘well, if you have symptoms do this, but if you’re asymptomatic do this’ and unfortunately while that seems very clear cut, the truth of the matter is there’s quite a bit of gray area.”
Among the cases they diagnosed, Percentric found a fever is not very often an indicator for COVID-19. “We see people who are positive who are describing pretty routine sinus infections and so I think everybody needs to take that into consideration in their own space,” Dr. Fine said.
Overall, Percentric reports a positivity rate of about 8%. Those with symptoms test positive about 25% of the time, while those with no symptoms make up fewer than 5% of positive tests, according to Dr. Fine.
He used a snowflake analogy to describe everyone’s unique circumstances and risks as we all try to navigate the COVID-19 storm. “Every individual and every business has a lot of unique components to how they view COVID. Whether there is a 3rd party that’s requiring them to get tested, family members who are considered high risk, their own personal anxieties. I don’t feel comfortable making a blanket statement that anybody that has any runny nose run out and get tested.”
Nor does he dispute those who do fever checks at work or school.
“We are right now in the thick of it and how this is going to play out and how the public health conversation will evolve with vaccinations.”
Another test, the antibody test, he believes, may soon begin to play a bigger role in figuring out specific risks and when someone should get a vaccine. It’s a bit more complex, but Dr. Fine does a great job of explaining it in our full digital discussion.
Watch the full discussion in the player below.
