A Dancing with the Stars winner may have coronavirus but is refusing the test. Nyle DiMarco, who won the show’s 22nd season with Peta Murgatroyd, took to Twitter to share the news that he believes he may be positive for COVID-19. However, despite his inclination, he believes getting a test would be a waste of badly-needed resources.
I’ve been really sick and I am now on the mend.
It is very possible I contracted coronavirus and I have access to get tested but I do not want to. The reason is because there is a shortage of covid-19 test kits in the U.S. and the sick patients need it more than I do
(see more) pic.twitter.com/PUqUYaufcn
— Nyle DiMarco (@NyleDiMarco) March 21, 2020
“I’d really like to stress the importance of testing,” DiMarco signed on social media, as noticed by Entertainment Weekly. “Of course testing is critical and it’s been proven in some countries like South Korea to greatly help the efforts of combating Coronavirus. In a perfect world I would take that test. However, the U.S. lacks enough test kits for everyone. If you are healthy and if you have no respiratory issues I strongly encourage you to be mindful of sick patients and allow them to get tested if they need it more than you do. And please stay home.”
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“We’re all in this together,” he concluded. “Let’s do it.”
The issue of testing for coronavirus has been a sore-spot amid the global pandemic, as many nations, including the U.S., have repeatedly appeared to be short-handed. However, there was some good news on that front reported late last week. A new test, named Xpert Xpress SARS-CoV-2, is being produced by the company Cepheid under approval by the FDA. The emergency use authorization will allow the company to drastically ramp up their production and start shipping them in roughly one week’s time.
“During this time of increased demand for hospital services, Clinicians urgently need an on-demand diagnostic test for real-time management of patients being evaluated for admission to health-care facilities,” a statement from Cepheid began, according to PEOPLE. “An accurate test delivered close to the patient can be transformative — and help alleviate the pressure that the emergence of the 2019-nCoV outbreak has put on healthcare facilities that need to properly allocate their respiratory isolation resources.”
To learn what you can do to help slow the spread of coronavirus, check out The World Health Organization’s website here.
