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. 2020 Aug;41(8):968-969.
doi: 10.1017/ice.2020.249. Epub 2020 May 19.

Screening for COVID-19: Patient factors predicting positive PCR test

Douglas W Challener  1 , Gregory J Challener  2 , Vanessa J Gow-Lee  2 , Madiha Fida  1 , Aditya S Shah  1 , John C O'Horo  1   3
Affiliations

Screening for COVID-19: Patient factors predicting positive PCR test

Douglas W Challener et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol. 2020 Aug.

Abstract

To inform the efficient allocation of testing resources, we evaluated the characteristics of those tested for COVID-19 to determine predictors of a positive test. Recent travel and exposure to a confirmed case were both highly predictive of positive testing. Symptom-based screening strategies alone may be inadequate to control the ongoing pandemic.

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