⁍ Trump often skipped his own administration’s public health recommendations on mask wearing and social distancing, explaining that ‘everyone’s tested’ around him using the Abbott device.

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⁍ On Friday, Trump began an experimental treatment and checked in to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center as a precautionary measure.

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⁍ While rapid tests can help contain the spread of a highly contagious virus, they were not designed to be used in isolation.

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⁍ A negative result merely captures a snapshot in time and doesn’t guard against infection soon after.

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– As the White House scrambles to contain the spread of coronavirus—which President Trump and wife Melania both tested positive for this week—questions are being raised about the reliability of a test used by the White House. The ID NOW nasal swab test from Abbott Laboratories was approved by the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use in March, and it’s been used by more than 11 million Americans, but there are concerns about its accuracy, reports Reuters. In May, for example, researchers at Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that the test identified only 73.9% of infectious samples. The FDA warned last month that more testing might be needed to confirm initial results. The New York Times reports that the White House hasn’t released any details about the tests used on Trump and aide Hope Hicks, who tested positive for the virus on Thursday. The tests used on White House staff and visitors are similar to lab-based methods, and there is no evidence that the tests produced inaccurate results. “The reliance on a rapid test, with its limitations, unfortunately gave the White House and its staff a false sense of security that they were in control of the virus,” infectious diseases professor William Schaffner tells Reuters. “You cannot rely on that test to create a barrier between you and the virus.” He says people “have to wear masks, do social distancing, and not go to all these rallies.” (Kellyanne Conway, Chris Christie, Mike Lee, Ronna McDaniel, and others have tested positive.)