<s>[INST] WHO SHOULD BE TESTED FOR SARS-CoV-2 [/INST] The following categories of people should be tested in both the public and private health sectors

Hospitalised patients
a. Symptomatic patients must be prioritised, and test results should be received within 24 hrs
b. All other patients should be tested on admission
Any person with symptoms where COVID-19 infection is considered to be a possible cause
a. Persons at high-risk for infection or poor outcomes, eg. health care workers, those older than 60 years, those with comorbidities, pregnant women, should be prioritised. 
Post-mortem testing should be conducted in line with current guidelines 
The following individuals or groups should not be tested (unless they fall into one of the priority groups):

Asymptomatic people including employees/learners for purposes of returning to work/school
Selected groups eg. sportspersons
Patients meeting de-isolation criteria as per National Department of Health clinical guidelines should not be tested
Individuals who are close contacts of confirmed cases, including asymptomatic contacts. Whilst a close contact is generally defined as contact with one metre of a COVID-19 confirmed cases for more than 15 minutes without PPE (no face cover/eye cover), alternative definitions should be used in some high-risk settings (eg: clusters/outbreaks). Source: NICD. Link: https://www.nicd.ac.za/diseases-a-z-index/disease-index-covid-19/frequently-asked-questions/. Field: Infectious Disease. Disease: COVID </s>