TORONTO -- There鈥檚 a new errand on to-do lists this summer: a coronavirus test.
Despite having no symptoms or concerns of exposure to COVID-19, healthy Canadians are visiting assessment centres and enduring nasal swabs for peace of mind. Some told CTVNews.ca that they鈥檙e getting tested before weekend getaways, helping friends move, and even taking a new relationship to 鈥渢he next level.鈥
Though experts suggest there鈥檚 not much utility getting tested sans symptoms or exposure, for some, it鈥檚 a helpful remedy to pandemic anxiety.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 an effective use of resources, but people can do what they like,鈥 said infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch on the phone with CTVNews.ca last week.
If a negative test provides some reassurance to live your life, that鈥檚 a positive, he said: 鈥淚f that鈥檚 what鈥檚 keeping you going, if that鈥檚 what enables you to leave the house and go to work and take care of your family, then fine.鈥
For Jean-Franxois Sauriol, a 56-year-old security engineer in Ottawa, the precautionary test was before a two-week family vacation to a rental cottage north of Gatineau, Que. in late July. Sauriol鈥檚 wife is immunocompromised and their daughter is a nurse, but no one had reason to be concerned they might have contracted the virus since they were practising physical distancing, hand-washing and masking.
After receiving negative tests, the trip felt like a 鈥渂ubble of paradise,鈥 he said.
鈥淲e were in an artificially pristine environment because we had created it that way. I can鈥檛 fathom how it would have been without us having been tested before,鈥 he told CTVNews.ca over the phone last week. 鈥淕oing back 鈥 it was a rude awakening.鈥
THE MEANING OF 鈥楴EGATIVE鈥
While there鈥檚 no specific data to show that Canadians are doing 鈥溾 in huge numbers, it鈥檚 clear that testing levels have ramped up this summer. Since May, testing has increased from about one million administered across Canada to nearly as of this week. About 2.4 per cent were found to be positive. Earlier during the pandemic, COVID-19 tests were limited to those with pre-existing conditions, health-care workers, people who had recently travelled internationally, or those exhibiting serious symptoms. But in May, provinces began expanding testing eligibility to include Canadians who are concerned they鈥檝e been exposed or have even mild symptoms, people who had previously simply been directed to self-isolate. Though provinces aren鈥檛 openly inviting everyone to get a test, you鈥檙e unlikely to be turned away from an assessment centre.
But a negative test, though reassuring, doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean you don鈥檛 have the virus. The Public Health Agency of Canada warns of 鈥溾 tests online: 鈥淚f you鈥檙e tested too soon after you were exposed to COVID-19, there may not be enough virus in your body for an accurate result,鈥 the agency says. 鈥淚f this is the case at the time of the test, your test may come back negative, even if you actually have the virus.鈥
A negative test result shouldn鈥檛 dictate your behaviour either, says Dr. Bogoch.
鈥淧eople shouldn鈥檛 feel that if they have a negative test, they鈥檙e risk-free because that test is only as good as their potential exposures and their behaviour in the days preceding the test,鈥 he said.
NOT A 'FREE PASS TO GO PARTYING'
Toronto-based researcher Chris Martin told CTVNews.ca that he鈥檚 had five tests since the pandemic began, most in advance of social gatherings and without concern of exposure, including a cottage trip in June, and before a Father鈥檚 Day visit with his family.
鈥淚鈥檝e gotten all of them for my own peace of mind. I鈥檒l scale down my social calendar and get a test and then after the test, if it comes back negative, I鈥檒l go back to life as I was living it before,鈥 he said. Martin has a close friend who is an ICU doctor in Toronto, so from the beginning, he has been keenly aware of how serious the disease can be.
A negative test isn鈥檛 an all-clear to flout pandemic protocols. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 take it as a free pass to go partying,鈥 he said on the phone last week.
He鈥檚 aware that the tests aren鈥檛 always perfect. In June, one Toronto study published in the journal found that the nasal swab tests identified about 89 per cent of infections, and saliva tests picked up just 72 per cent.
But for Martin and most other asymptomatic testees, that鈥檚 good enough.
鈥淚t鈥檚 kind of a thing I can do to keep myself from ruminating 鈥 and worrying about every little scratchy throat I get,鈥 he said.
ASYMPTOMATIC ANXIETY
Since most of these people aren鈥檛 getting testing with symptoms or concern of exposure, they鈥檙e afraid of one thing in particular: being asymptomatic carriers, having but not showing signs of the infection, a scenario which does have some scientific support.
But that research remains incomplete. The major studies so far have pegged the asymptomatic population in the 40 per cent range, though Bogoch says that figure could be 鈥渨ay too high.鈥 One study published earlier this month in found that about 30 per cent of asymptomatic patients appeared healthy throughout the course of the study.
But there鈥檚 still much research to be done about what role asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people (those that eventually develop symptoms) play in virus transmission.
NEW 鈥楬YGIENE THEATRE鈥?
So could this kind of asymptomatic testing could be lumped into what has been dubbed 鈥,鈥 excessive sanitizing of tabletops and doorknobs even though evidence suggests surface transmission may not play a significant role in the COVID-19 pandemic?
Bogoch thinks so, because the chances are 鈥渘ext to nothing鈥 that officials at assessment centres will find a positive case among asymptomatic tests, he said.
鈥淭he chances of having a positive test on a person who鈥檚 totally asymptomatic with no exposure is close to zero per cent. It doesn鈥檛 make a whole lot of sense,鈥 he said.
Instead, tests should be used strategically, focusing more on long-term care homes, low-income neighbourhoods, and factories and workplaces with employees working elbow-to-elbow.
鈥淲e know where this infection is primarily transmitted,鈥 he said. 鈥淛ust going to get a test for the sake of getting a test, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 a helpful use of resources.鈥
But to each their own. If a test makes you more likely to live your daily life, said Bogoch, get the swab.
