New patient admissions to undergo COVID-19 testing
Starting today, April 13, UW Medicine will administer COVID-19 tests to all patients admitted to Harborview Medical Center and UW Medical Center (Montlake and Northwest campuses). This is a change from the previous policy in which only those patients with COVID-19 symptoms were tested, and it is possible because of same-day turnaround in test-processing at the UW Medicine Virology Lab.
This strategy is akin to our proactive surveillance for patients with cases of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Learning more about asymptomatic individuals testing positive for the coronavirus will enable our clinicians and staff to provide more effective care for patients.
Dr. Chloe Bryson-Cahn, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, discusses the new policy in a downloadable file of video soundbites.