[M T]

I have yet to get a covid test, and I look inside people's throats, while they often cough, about 50 times a week. Of course I am wearing a (6 month old) n95 and faceshield. My nurses wear n95 masks generally, but some just use surgical masks. Everybody in the hospital wears a mask. Most departments it's just surgical masks. No outbreaks in our facility, and the staff covid prevalence is half that of the community. There is no regular staff testing, just if symptomatic.

IMHO, if masks are used at all times and social distancing measures are followed, regularly testing in an organization or for individuals is not necessary, but maybe a nice peace of mind thing. If testing isn't daily, and not coming back within a day, probably just theater in terms of stopping an outbreak in a setting that is lax with masks or distancing. And if you aren't lax, then an outbreak is unlikely anyway.

Now, streamlined and quick testing if symptomatic is critical and if an organization can offer that, then great. My skepticism is more with a weekly or monthly sort of screening setup.

I know I speak for all of us when I say we all DO appreciate the care you and the other health caregivers give, and (to some level) appreciate the personal risks each of you take.

Your personal story of exposure and no apparent illness is one of the more encouraging things I've heard.  However, since you've had no testing (which I presume means no antibody testing), I don't think you can know whether you had an asymptomatic case (or a very mild one) and are staying well now due to immunity from that.  (I also don't know whether immunity can be gained from constant but very low exposure, without ever having an infection.)

Regarding the weekly or monthly testing of people at risk of exposure, I'd think of it as doing sampling of an at-risk population to understand infection levels (and thus, the level of risk), rather than an abatement measure designed to prevent spread.

If 100 MDs that are being exposed like you were being tested once a month, it would catch about 1/3 of the cases (10 days/30 days).  If zero of them are testing positive, then I'd think the likelihood is that your PPE & Procedures are doing a great job at preventing you from getting infected.  If 1/3 of those without antibodies are testing PCR positive, then I'd say it wasn't helping much.

[M T]

I have yet to get a covid test, and I look inside people's throats, while they often cough, about 50 times a week. Of course I am wearing a (6 month old) n95 and faceshield. My nurses wear n95 masks generally, but some just use surgical masks. Everybody in the hospital wears a mask. Most departments it's just surgical masks. No outbreaks in our facility, and the staff covid prevalence is half that of the community. There is no regular staff testing, just if symptomatic.

IMHO, if masks are used at all times and social distancing measures are followed, regularly testing in an organization or for individuals is not necessary, but maybe a nice peace of mind thing. If testing isn't daily, and not coming back within a day, probably just theater in terms of stopping an outbreak in a setting that is lax with masks or distancing. And if you aren't lax, then an outbreak is unlikely anyway.

Now, streamlined and quick testing if symptomatic is critical and if an organization can offer that, then great. My skepticism is more with a weekly or monthly sort of screening setup.

I know I speak for all of us when I say we all DO appreciate the care you and the other health caregivers give, and (to some level) appreciate the personal risks each of you take.

Your personal story of exposure and no apparent illness is one of the more encouraging things I've heard.  However, since you've had no testing (which I presume means no antibody testing), I don't think you can know whether you had an asymptomatic case (or a very mild one) and are staying well now due to immunity from that.  (I also don't know whether immunity can be gained from constant but very low exposure, without ever having an infection.)

Regarding the weekly or monthly testing of people at risk of exposure, I'd think of it as doing sampling of an at-risk population to understand infection levels (and thus, the level of risk), rather than an abatement measure designed to prevent spread.

If 100 MDs that are being exposed like you were being tested once a month, it would catch about 1/3 of the cases (10 days/30 days).  If zero of them are testing positive, then I'd think the likelihood is that your PPE & Procedures are doing a great job at preventing you from getting infected.  If 1/3 of those without antibodies are testing PCR positive, then I'd say it wasn't helping much.