Total #COVID cases don’t really tell us much about whether our social distancing efforts are working. It is more illustrative to look at # of ACTIVE Cases which is the Total minus (Recovered + Deaths sadly). Total cases will continue to rise, but the Active graph helps us visualize our curve. A flat active line shows we are keeping up with cases.
The number of current hospitalizations is also a good metric to see the remaining capacity to care for severe cases.
New Mexico has 344 ICU beds, but remember that those are routinely occupied by other seriously ill patients. So not all 344 beds are necessarily available. There is the capacity to increase the # of beds and not all patients hospitalized are in the ICU. Its clear to see that a close eye should be kept on the number of patients hospitalized to determine necessary levels of physical distancing.
Well Life ABQ is now offering IgG antibody testing specifically for the spike protein antibody. This is the antibody the vaccine targets. This is the antibody you would want to test, to determine if you developed antibodies after the vaccine. It is important that you wait 3+weeks after your second vaccine shot (or first vaccine if you received a single shot vaccine)
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The test requires a blood draw. Insurance may cover the cost of the test. There is a $35 processing fee for drawing, processing and managing the results.
If you have insurance, your out of pocket cost is $35. If you do not have insurance, the cost is $75.
Antibody testing is quite accurate with a sensitivity and specificity >95%. This limits the amount of false negative and false positives. Like all COVID tests, the test has not been approved by the FDA, but does have emergency use authorization.
Please note, the CDC is recommending against antibody testing for vaccine response. Currently, there are no guidelines published to deal with negative results. All vaccines have a percentage of non-responders, meaning these people do not form measurable levels of antibodies. It is poorly understood whether non-responders form different immune responses, so it is uncertain if a negative result equals no immunity. Repeat vaccination and post-testing is the guidance for other vaccines, but there is no Covid vaccine specific guidelines at this time.
A study published this month compared a patient’s Vitamin D with severity of COVID disease. The results are remarkable. Those with optimal Vitamin D levels >30 had the mild form of COVID over 90% of the time.
PCR Testing is the most accurate and most reliable form of testing. It “amplifies” the sample, then detects genetic material of the virus itself.We recommend this testing for your employees if they have had contact with a COVID positive co-worker or other person.
This is best done 7-10 days after exposure. This can get your employees back to work 2-5days faster, since they don’t have to wait the full 14days of incubation. We now have saliva collection capabilities. Just contact us at 505-585-2345 to get started.
Antigen testing is usually the rapid version of COVID testing. This form of testing is appropriate when an employee has symptoms and COVID positive confirmation is the goal. It is less reliable for screening asymptomatic, exposed employees. The false negative rate is as high as 20%, making it unreliable to confidently return exposed co-workers to work.
Well Life ABQ is only offering PCR testing right now for diagnostics. We hope to have “ABC” testing capabilities by January 2021. This option will be offered to symptomatic individuals to test for Flu A, Flu B and COVID.
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Employers choose to offer Direct Primary Care at Well Life ABQ as a benefit because it provides employees with convenient access to high-quality care.
