BOISE, Idaho — Last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its guidelines for COVID-19 testing.
The CDC updated their guidelines for who should be tested on Monday, recommending that only those who are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and those who have come into contact with someone who recently tested positive should be tested.
These guidelines raised concerns among healthcare professionals, as asymptomatic patients can transfer the virus to others.
Today, CDC Director Robert Redfield clarified that those who come in close contact with a confirmed or probable COVID-19 positive patient could be tested, even without symptoms.
These changes are happening too early to explain the decreasing testing numbers in Idaho. The state peaked with about 26,000 tests during the week of July 5-11. Last week, only 18,000 tests were conducted.
The positivity rate has dropped as well, from nearly 15% to just above 8%. COVID-19 guidelines suggest that a positivity rate under 5% shows containment efforts are working to slow the spread.
The question remains: why is the state seeing fewer tests?
Idaho Department of Health and Welfare (IDHW) officials are unsure why the number of completed tests is decreasing, but they may be able to speculate on why the positivity rate is dropping.
"We do not have an answer to that question except to assume demand has decreased for testing," Dr. Kathryn Turner of IDHW said. "Maybe people in communities are not getting infected and are not showing up and getting tested."
However, this is a great sign.
"It's a great sign as long as people who should be tested are getting tested," Turner said. "If the demand is down, we have to assume that's because people are not clinically compatible and aren't showing up at their provider's office."
The positivity rate is also on the decline, another great sign.
"Regardless of what testing numbers look like, whether they're going up or down, percent positivity can really tell us how much a virus is circulating in the community," Turner said. "So the percent positivity is dropping and that's great news because what that's telling us is that it's very likely that there is less virus circulating in our communities."
Getting the positivity rate below 5% is ultimately the goal, according to Turner. The lower the percentage of community spread, the less likely people will come in contact with someone who has the virus in their system.
However, reaching below 5% does not mean the virus is gone.
"[The positivity rate] was below 5% at one point," Turner said. "Just hang in there, but it's going to take everyone working together to do it."
Idaho's lowest positivity rate, other than 0% when the first positive COVID-19 case was confirmed, was 2.7% during the second week of June.
The following week, the positivity rate rose to above 7%.
Turner attributes both the drop in positive tests and the number of people getting tested to the public wearing masks, washing their hands and following the protocols.
She said she is confident health care providers are testing those who need to be tested.
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