COVID-19: Skilled Nursing Facilities / Rapid Test / After Symptoms Resolve

By Kelly Young

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and André Sofair, MD, MPH

Here's a quick look at some of the latest developments in novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19):

• Long-term care facilities: A pair of studies looks at the COVID-19 outbreak in long-term care facilities in Washington State. In the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers report that 101 residents, 50 health care personnel, and 16 visitors were infected at one facility. The hospitalization rate among infected residents was 55%, while the mortality rate was 34%. At least 30 skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in King County, Washington, had confirmed COVID-19 cases. Elsewhere, an MMWR study finds that symptom-based screening in skilled nursing facilities could miss about half of the residents with COVID-19.

• Rapid test: The FDA has approved a new rapid SARS-CoV-2 point-of-care test. Positive results could be provided in roughly 5 minutes, according to the manufacturer.

• After symptoms resolve: A study in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine indicates that the virus may be detectable for as long as 8 days after a person's symptoms resolve. Half the patients in the study still tested positive via throat swab after their symptoms resolved. The authors note that it is unclear whether positive tests mean the virus is capable of transmission later in the course of the disease.