White House testing czar warns of false sense of security with negative COVID test
With holiday travel approaching, a top White House coronavirus official warned against a false sense of security that a negative COVID-19 test might provide.
"Please remember that a negative test today does not mean you will be negative tomorrow or in a few days afterwards," Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services, said on a call with reporters Tuesday. "We know that a single test can provide false senses of security. You still have to wear your mask and everything else."
"If you're negative today, you could be positive by Thanksgiving or Friday," he continued. "You can get it while you're traveling on vacation."
Giroir confirmed that the Trump administration is considering shortening the recommended coronavirus quarantine time from 14 days to 10 days, complemented by a negative test administered on day seven or 10 -- as first reported by The Wall Street Journal. They are "right now reviewing the evidence," he said.
Demand for testing ahead of the holiday continues to strain the diagnostics system, prompting recurrent warnings from major labs that turnaround times may be delayed. Testing could become even further strapped if a shortened quarantine would require a negative test.
When asked if the system has the ability to handle such widespread asymptomatic screening, Giroir said he was "certainly cognizant" of the turnaround times and was doing "everything possible to increase those supplies."
"Asymptomatic testing is very important, but we need to do that on targeted populations," he said. "We're not at the point that sort of every American can test themselves every day, without a reason to do that. We are trying to build that infrastructure."
ABC News' Sasha Pezenik contributed to this report