All People Who Die in San Francisco Will Now Be Tested for COVID-19

A new health order that took effect in San Francisco Thursday ensures that every person who dies in the county will be tested for COVID-19.

Dr. Susan Philip with the San Francisco Department of Public Health told KQED that universal testing for the virus could identify people who may have been asymptomatic or undiagnosed before death — information that could potentially save lives.

“Say there was a death of someone at home,” Philip said. “We have an opportunity to test and to notify people that have been around that individual.”

Forty-eight people have succumbed to COVID-19 in San Francisco, according to a June 25 update on the public health department’s website. Alameda County has reported 122 coronavirus-related deaths. San Mateo County has reported 106.

Part of that disparity may be due to more extensive testing of decedents.

San Mateo’s county coroners have been testing all decedents brought to the morgue for COVID-19 since early March. Alameda County's sheriff-coroner began that same widespread testing in April.

But up until the new health order, post-mortem testing in San Francisco was restricted to people who had pneumonia or flu-like symptoms associated with the virus.

Most COVID-19 fatalities in San Francisco were confirmed and reported by treating physicians, with just a handful reported by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Dr. Philip acknowledged that there were likely some deaths from the virus that were not detected in earlier months because the decedent died outside of a health care facility.

“If somebody passes away in an acute care hospital, if they pass away in a skilled nursing facility, or in a congregate living facility, like a retirement facility, or if they pass away at their own home, they are not necessarily going to go to the office of the chief medical examiner,” Philip said. “So I think the benefit of this order is that it will allow us to require testing at all of the sites.”

— Julie Small (@smallradio2)