Coinfection rates of COVID and normal flu are very low. If you have the set of flu/COVID symptoms, you’re basically guaranteed to have one or the other. You can test for the flu pretty easily. Therefore, people can just test for the flu as a proxy for testing for COVID.
Is this just a really obvious chain of reasoning that everyone has missed? Which one of my assumptions is wrong?
Thus it’s either the case that if you have the set of flu/COVID symptoms, you’re basically guaranteed to have either flu or COVID.
Maybe the tests are only useful for people who don’t have symptoms, but if that’s not the case, then the flu test provides a lot of evidence as to whether or not someone has COVID (even if “basically guaranteed” is replaced with “probable”).
update the CDC advises testing for the flu and there’s a lot of medical things that cause “flu-like” symptoms. Turns out that “flu-like” symptoms is basically “immune system doing things”, which is going to happen with most things your body doesn’t like.
Coinfection rates of COVID and normal flu are very low. If you have the set of flu/COVID symptoms, you’re basically guaranteed to have one or the other. You can test for the flu pretty easily. Therefore, people can just test for the flu as a proxy for testing for COVID.
Is this just a really obvious chain of reasoning that everyone has missed? Which one of my assumptions is wrong?
https://twitter.com/katyw2004/status/1236848300143280128 says coinfection rates are low
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Rapid_influenza_diagnostic_test means we can test for the flu fast
Thus it’s either the case that if you have the set of flu/COVID symptoms, you’re basically guaranteed to have either flu or COVID.
Maybe the tests are only useful for people who don’t have symptoms, but if that’s not the case, then the flu test provides a lot of evidence as to whether or not someone has COVID (even if “basically guaranteed” is replaced with “probable”).
update the CDC advises testing for the flu and there’s a lot of medical things that cause “flu-like” symptoms. Turns out that “flu-like” symptoms is basically “immune system doing things”, which is going to happen with most things your body doesn’t like.
Not everybody who has a cold has influenza (the flu) or COVID-19. There are many different viruses that cause influenza-like-illnesses.
Low is relativ. 2% of coindience is still a bunch.