Hacker News Reader

Comment by claudeganon | Hacker News Reader

It’s a joke. I know people who have been to the ER with severe symptoms who were turned away without testing (mostly because they’re young and “expected” to recover).

Every company that’s using testing as a precondition for benefits, when testing has been widely reported to be unavailable, is despicable.

View on HN

Indeed this story is real eye opener:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52019509

I’m in Sydney Australia. Last Wednesday I woke with a sore throat and stuffy head. I drive a public bus and was concerned that I may have picked the virus up, and may be spreading it.

In the evening that night I went to the local hospital emergency. They had an area specifically for covid testing.

With 30 minutes I was tested, and told I needed to have 5 days off work. If the test was negative the government would pay for the sick time. If I was positive my company’s normal sick leave would need to cover it. I was negative and back at work, no cost to me.

I went to Stanford last weekend with a slight fever and sore throat and was tested and had results in about 16 hours. You could go right now and get tested there if you have symptoms. It’s an anecdote, sure, but the idea that people can’t get tested isn’t completely true.

I'm in Boston, and AFAIK there's nowhere I can get a test without having severe symptoms that require hospitalization.

Work for a hospital system in Boston and can confirm - testing guidelines here remain quite strict.

I donated blood at MGH yesterday, which is how I checked. I'm just hoping to I don't fall down ill in two weeks' time from having set foot, even masked and hand-sanitized, in a hospital.

"Well, it's not a problem for me..."

I know multiple people personally who called in experiencing COVID symptoms and were told to not even come to the hospital. If you aren't above a certain age or don't have preexisting conditions, they're likely not going to test you.

I had symptoms, and had even been traveling in Europe, but since I'm not elderly and haven't recently been to China, no test for you. Stay home and get bed rest. OK, I guess we're still pretending you only get it from China? This is a major health care provider in the Bay Area. Still coughing after 3 weeks...

Reply on news.ycombinator.com