If you’re sick this fall, you’ll probably get a flu and a COVID-19 test - The Verge

Flu season hasn’t picked up quite yet, so for now, the first step for treating any patient with respiratory symptoms would be to test them for COVID-19.

There are a handful of tests available that can check for both influenza and COVID-19 at once: health care companies Roche and Cepheid have Food and Drug Administration authorizations for joint tests, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has one available for public health labs.

Right now, the joint tests are genetic tests: they look for fragments of the influenza genetic sequence and fragments of the coronavirus genetic sequence.

The standard, outpatient flu test is usually an antigen test, which looks for the proteins that stick out on the outside of the influenza virus.

If a joint test isn’t available, getting tested for both flu and COVID-19 could mean a combination of the testing types.

People might go to a walk-in COVID-19 testing site for a rapid test, and go to a doctor for a flu test if that comes back negative.

Baffoe-Bonnie says his clinic plans to start with genetic tests for the viruses, while having some ability to do faster antigen tests, if necessary, as well.

In March and April, some people sick with what they thought was COVID-19 were charged thousands of dollars for tests for other respiratory viruses, like flu.