The best advice in a nutshell…
Big news for those of us in San Mateo County from our county health officer Dr. Scott Morrow: he will release a new order this week that allows for the return of retail and manufacturing with new physical-distancing measures. A big thank you to all of you for doing the hard work to follow shelter in place guidelines these past few weeks, you have saved lives!
Team PWG is here for you and will continue to be here for you every step of the way. We’ve worked hard to keep our office a safe place for all our families, we’ve put new workflow protocols in place that allow us to see patients safely while following social distancing guidelines. There have been reports in the news this week about an unusual inflammatory illness in pediatric patients that may be triggered by COVID. We do not have the full picture yet, but we are monitoring developments closely. Please feel free to discuss any concerns you may have with your doctor at PWG.
We have been getting a lot of questions from families about local COVID-19 serology testing options that are currently available for people and wanted to give you all an update. Please note that information about COVID serology testing is changing rapidly and may already be out of date by the time many of us get tested. Before you decide to proceed there are some important considerations:
- many local options are NOT FDA approved or only approved under emergency use guidelines. Getting FDA approval takes time and because of the pressing need to expand testing options many companies/health systems are working on getting FDA approval while allowing public access to these tests.
- If you do have COVID antibodies it is not clear if this means you are immune to future infections. We recommend continuing with all social distancing protocols and following local county health department guidelines until we learn more.
- We recommend you check with your insurance company about whether testing will be covered.
- Serology testing that we discuss is for people with no symptoms. If you are sick and would like to discuss COVID testing please call our office to set up a video visit to discuss further.
Local COVID antibody testing options for asymptomatic people:
- For Quest:
- They are testing for one type of COVID antibody, IgG type
- The price for this test is $119 plus an additional $10.30 service fee, you can find more information on Quest’s website
- If you have any further questions you can set up a telemedicine appointment with your doctor at PWG to discuss the test, we can then order the test for you and follow up with you when we get the results.
- We are being told it can take up to 7 to 10 days for results, it might be sooner in some cases.
- For Stanford:
- They are testing for 2 types of COVID antibodies, IgM and IgG
- Please check with Stanford directly about the cost of the test.
- If you have any further questions you can set up a telemedicine appointment with your doctor to discuss the test, we can then order the test for you and follow up with you when we get the results.
- We are being told it can take up to 7 to 10 days for results, it might be sooner in some cases.
- If your child is under 18 years of age, please call their customer service line at 1-877-717-3733 to confirm which draw station is open and accepting pediatric patients. As of this writing either 725 Welch Road or 730 Welch Road labs are open for pediatric patients.
- You can find additional information on their website