One of wifes coworkers tested positive today, and last exposure my wife had with them was a week ago. Employer says wife has to quarantine for 2 weeks or get two negative tests 24 hours apart. Zero clinics allow you to get a test if you have no symptoms, so how the hell do you get around this problem? Lie about being symptomatic?

This is the 2nd time this has happened and its bull**** that my wife loses two weeks of employment everytime someone is flagged on a test. There is no way to prove a negative if you arent allowed to take the stupid test.

I typed in "the county I live in" rapid covid test into google.

Montgomery County Testing Locations

I got many results - some showing testing limited to certain patients, some open to anyone. I know for a fact two different families I know got the kids tested yesterday without symptoms. They were rapid drive-through test sites in the county. One of the teachers at their school tested positve.

Where are you? My wife has no symptoms but had contact with a confirmed positive last week. Waited 15 min for a test and had the results back in 2 hours. No appointment $150.

Look for a local ER clinic in your area and be sure to find one that is doing Antigen testing as you get the results back from the Antigen test within 15 minutes (depending on the number of samples they have in front of you).

From NextCare which is just the first clinic I ran across (I'm sure there are others):

Spring/Woodlands Area

Kingwood

Pasadena


Here are some more from Signature Care:

Westchase District

Heights

Memorial City

Mission Bend

Stafford

Bellaire

Copperfield

List some in Houston then. My wife has been on the phone all morning and been told to get bent on every call. We are on the Southside and nobody will test her without symptoms unless she lies about it, and even then it's a 1-2 week wait before they have an opening

Memorial Village ER off Dairy Ashford

I was told demand is quite high right now and you would have to attempt to get on the website early in the morning to see about getting an appointment for a day or two later.

They also told me that there would be some new testing offered at Reliant and some community college (HCC I think) but I would assume these are government sponsored so I didn't pursue them.

This is a racket. There are no hits in Brazoria County and moving over to adjacent counties just sends you to people's full voice-mail boxes. This isn't helping anybody.

I don't know if this helps, but posting just in case.

https://www.erjcchouston.org/blog/2020/07/02/news/merfish-teen-center-to-serve-as-covid-19-testing-site/

ETA: Read too quickly and didn't realize you needed rapid. I'll leave this up for anybody else who may need free testing in Houston.

Cromagnum said:

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One of wifes coworkers tested positive today, and last exposure my wife had with them was a week ago. Employer says wife has to quarantine for 2 weeks or get two negative tests 24 hours apart. Zero clinics allow you to get a test if you have no symptoms, so how the hell do you get around this problem? Lie about being symptomatic?

This is the 2nd time this has happened and its bull**** that my wife loses two weeks of employment everytime someone is flagged on a test. There is no way to prove a negative if you arent allowed to take the stupid test.

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Do you have a PCP? If so, call them and see if they can set you up with appointments.

CowtownAg06 said:

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Memorial Village ER off Dairy Ashford

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My mom just went here today. She drove right up and they did the test and said they will call her with the results in two hours.

There are many places where you can get tested without symptoms. You just have to be willing to pay $150 to do it.

Breathe MD in Houston. I got a test today, never had symptoms.

They have appts available for tomorrow:
https://breathemd.org/appointments

Test took me 5 minutes total.

Will look at those options. Called Aetna to see if they could help me and they told me they don't cover rapid scans, only the standard test, but in full. If I can't help the wife find a rapid scan place to 5est her, I guess we'll do it the slow way. By then I'm sure the 2 week quarantine will have passed anyways.

What pisses me off is the employer wants 2 tests 24 hours apart for her to come back and its hard enough to get just the first one done.

Agreed, or at the very least reimburse out of pocket testing for rapid site.

Don't waste your money on the rapid antibody test. Very high false negative and false positive rates which means you cannot trust the results regardless of what it shows.

I just got tested at a Signature Care ER. I got the appointment same day but had to monitor the website as they post new openings constantly. I've had several friends use MyRemedy urgent care but not sure if there are any locations outside of Houston & Dallas.

My family and I will need a PCR test in a few weeks. I'm crossing my fingers I'll be able to find a place in Houston and get results back in a timely manner

Here's a thread on the Houston board with more info.
https://texags.com/forums/38/topics/3120730

So I am required to do a PCR test. Is the rapid test an actual PCR test?

I have used the Pixel by LabCorp.... It is the most logical, hassle-free test out there. I have no clue why so many people (including on this thread) got to such lengths when you can get an insurance-covered test almost immediately.

No it isn't. The rapid test is considered a rapid antigen test and does not actually measure virus unlike the molecular/PCR.

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Don't waste your money on the rapid antibody test. Very high false negative and false positive rates which means you cannot trust the results regardless of what it shows.

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It depends on the test. The antigen test one of my clients is providing is 92% accurate and approved by the FDA.

...and correctly identified that my father was positive.

I was just talking with a neighbor about this . . . he has tested twice in the last 3 weeks as his elderly and sick parents were coming and going. He had no issue at all. The second test was a drive up with a 24 hour turnaround time.

It is absolutely ludicrous that she has to get tested or miss work.

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Don't waste your money on the rapid antibody test. Very high false negative and false positive rates which means you cannot trust the results regardless of what it shows.

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It depends on the test. The antigen test one of my clients is providing is 92% accurate and approved by the FDA.

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Not Yet Dr. Ag is talking about the antibody test, while you are talking about the antigen test. One tests for prior exposure and the other tests for an active infection. Each has their own sensitivity and specificity for results.

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Not Yet Dr. Ag is talking about the antibody test, while you are talking about the antigen test. One tests for prior exposure and the other tests for an active infection. Each has their own sensitivity and specificity for results.

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Thanks. I didn't even realize there was a difference.

To answer the original question, I have been tested once by my PCP in January as a "...let's take a look" type thing and then on my own four times since then. Each time I was reported as negative. In other words, "No sweat; don't worry." IT IS NOT HARD TO GET TESTED. I don't know where you live but I live in the Klein/Tomball area and was tested twice at Pridgeon Stadium on 1960 and twice in The Woodlands at a Lone Star College local campus off Kuykendahl & 99. Visit the Harris County Health Dept website and you should be able to get signed up. Again, this is just for Harris County but am assuming any other major metro area in TX should have a similar process.

For those of you in Harris County, etc use this; I have used the site four times and no hassle at all. Answer the questions, make the appointment, be on time, and the response is in your hands within four days. I will say this though, the test is self administered at Pridgeon Stadium but the two times I was at the The Woodlands site the technicians there administered the test. No money changed hands, nothing was charged.


This site has now moved to https://www.readyharris.org/Get-Tested


Sorry, I responded incorrectly the first time.