No Symptoms? Boston Mayor Walsh Says Get a COVID-19 Test Anyway

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is encouraging all city residents to get tested for coronavirus, even if they have no symptoms.

“Getting tested is how we keep families and yourself safe,” Walsh said in a Tuesday interview with GBH News. “It’s also how we track the presence of the virus in our communities and it helps us focus on our responses [and] where they’re needed.”

The city has set up free mobile testing sites for asymptomatic people in Central Square Park in East Boston and Nubian Square in Roxbury.

The percentage of tests that come back positive for COVID-19 has been steadily climbing in Boston. Five weeks ago, 2.8 percent of tests were positive. Last week it was 6.2 percent.

The city is especially encouraging testing for anyone who has symptoms, is at high risk for complications from COVID-19, has been in contact with an infected person or who has traveled or been in large gatherings. But Walsh says even if residents don’t meet any of that criteria, they should still be tested.

“You could be asymptomatic and not realize it, and you could be a carrier of the virus,” Walsh said. “It’s very important that everyone get tested right now, as we see this increase in numbers.”