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Cough, fever, chills — with fall fast on the way, symptoms alone won’t be useful in distinguishing Covid-19 from similar-looking cases of the flu. That means routinely testing for both viruses will be crucial — even, perhaps, after some patients have already died. That will at least be true in New York, where officials recently announced a ramp-up in post-mortem testing for the coronavirus as well as the flu. Deaths linked to respiratory illnesses that weren’t confirmed before a person died are to be followed up with tests for both viruses within 48 hours, according to the new regulation. (Wu, 9/6)

The share of virus tests coming back positive in New York State has stayed below 1 percent for 30 straight days, suggesting that the state’s aggressive approach to containing its outbreak — once the most severe in the country — has largely worked. The state’s positivity rate, announced on Sunday, remained below 1 percent even as parts of the economy gradually reopened, the number of people being tested continued to trend upward, and other states grappled with sharply rising case counts. (9/6)

In other testing news —

Low vitamin D levels may increase risk for coronavirus, according to a retrospective study. Researchers at the University of Chicago Medicine found those who were deficient in vitamin D (< 20ng/ml) and not treated, were nearly twice as likely to test positive for COVID-19 compared to those who had sufficient levels. “The relative risk of testing positive for COVID-19 was 1.77 times greater for patients with likely deficient vitamin D status compared with patients with likely sufficient vitamin D status, a difference that was statistically significant,” the authors stated in the recently published study in JAMA Network Open. (McGorry, 9/4)

Rapid antigen tests could play a pivotal role in curbing the spread of the coronavirus, according to some of the country’s top medical professionals. Antigen tests are the type of tests the White House just ordered from Abbott Laboratories in a $750 million deal that will reportedly buy 150 million of its new rapid coronavirus tests: the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag Card. (Carlton, 9/5)

At the height of the coronavirus lockdown, President Donald Trump and his top health advisers trumpeted a new test that would help Americans reclaim their lives — one that would tell them if they already had the virus and were protected from getting it again. Their arrival would help “get Americans back to work” by showing those who might have “the wonderful, beautiful immunity,” said Trump, a point repeated at the daily briefings last April. (Perrone, 9/7)

In testing news from Louisiana and Oklahoma —

More than 240 of the state's nursing homes have received rapid-coronavirus testing equipment, which in time could bring testing levels up to where officials will consider loosening the restrictions that have kept most elderly and infirm residents in strict lockdown since March. The testing kits have been delivered as part of a federal program to aid in the rapid and frequent testing of nursing home residents and staff, a necessary step to stem the spread of the virus among the population in which it has proved most lethal. (Roberts, 9/4)

Most Oklahoma nursing homes will receive rapid COVID-19 testing machines this month.The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is supplying nursing homes across the country with the machines to better test staff, and in some cases, residents. The testing machines go hand-in-hand with new federal requirements requiring nursing home staffers to be tested regularly for COVID-19. Testing frequency will depend on the severity of local community spread. (Forman, 9/6)

As Oklahoma reached the six-month mark on Sunday since its first confirmed case of COVID-19, the state approached another milestone: 1 million specimens tested. Through Friday, the Oklahoma State Department of Health had reported 939,500 specimens tested, not counting antibody tests. At the current rate of testing, the total should reach 1 million by mid-week. (Casteel, 9/6)