US residents: If you haven't ordered your free COVID tests through USPS in the last five or six weeks, you're eligible for four more per household. It takes about a minute to fill out the online form, and USPS delivers them to your mailbox.
Testing is a great way to keep friends, family, and coworkers safe.
#Masking is a great way to keep yourself and others safe. #Vaccination is a good way to help keep yourself safe.
The free tests are certainly useful in a small set of situations, but they’re all too frequently misused and misunderstood. You can be contagious whilst the test shows negative. And there’s a non-trivial percentage of false negatives. They’re more likely to tell you you’ve already messed up.
@mmalc@ct_bergstrom no shit. You can get Covid despite being vaccinated, boosted, & masking. These tests are nice for the symptomatic to get a quick result and seek treatment. Sure, there are false negatives. That’s why the instructions at the USPS website say test 3 times or get a PCR if you’re symptomatic or exposed. Don’t be an asshole bc someone is trying to help people access free test kits that could, in theory, stop the spread or seek treatment. Thanks OP!
@amyshark@ct_bergstrom
Per my reply, [RATs] have a limited benefit — and, because they’re inaccurate, not infrequently counter-productive. I wonder how many people test 3 times over more than a couple of days and ensure they have no exposure in that time.
They are not, per OP, a great way to keep others safe — that is misinformation.
Perhaps you might constrain any further replies to science and statistics rather than obnoxious ad hominen?
@mmalc Sorry, bro. I spent two and a half years modeling the value of proactive testing for reducing the spread of COVID. You're welcome to read and comment on some of our work in PNAS and elsewhere if you have a problem with it.
If I'd said that a negative test demonstrated conclusively that you were not infected with COVID, you might have a right. But it's a lot more nuanced than that—and I didn't say anything of the sort. I'd suggest that you take whatever bizarre agenda you have elsewhere.
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