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Coronavirus leads to decrease in STD testing, drop in reported cases

Social distancing means people aren’t having as much sex, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says this along with decreased testing and reporting, has lead to a drop in sexually transmitted disease cases.

But of course, it’s not all good news.

The organization says that they estimate tens of thousands of cases of chlamydia and gonorrhea and thousands of cases of syphilis have gone undetected due to the lack of testing.

They add that limited testing for STDs was also due to sexual health clinics shutting their doors or cutting back on in-person visits during the start of the coronavirus outbreak in February.

Before the pandemic began, rates of STDs were at record highs in the U.S.—the CDC cautions that most sexually transmitted diseases can be treated if detected early, but if left untreated can lead to infertility or even death.

Joe Kelley

Joe Kelley

WDBO News Director and host the The Joe Kelley Show - weekdays from 5:00PM to 7:00PM on WDBO.

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