end stage renal disease (ESRD) on maintenance dialysis are at high risk for serious illness and death related to infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
Most patients on maintenance dialysis undergo hemodialysis three times a week at outpatient dialysis centers. At each treatment, dialysis facilities should assess patients for symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or exposure to others with SARS-CoV-2 infection.Testing for SARS-CoV-2 in respiratory specimens can detect current infections (referred to here as viral testing) among patients in outpatient dialysis facilities.
Viral testing of patients in outpatient dialysis facilities, with authorized nucleic acid or antigen detection assays, can be an important addition to other.