Covid-19 Tests Are in Short Supply. Should You Still Get One?

The virus has been difficult to control in large part because many infected people without symptoms have unknowingly spread it, he said.

More testing will help identify these hidden cases, Dr. Rondello said.

But Candace L. Upton, a professor of philosophy at the University of Denver, said people should not feel duty bound to get a test. It can even be argued that it is morally wrong to go in for a test if you have no symptoms and are not at a high risk, she said.

“Until there is no longer a shortage of test kits, it is morally unjustified to test patients for Covid-19 solely for the purpose of collecting data,” Professor Upton said. “Because of the deficit, labs shouldn’t be offering them to people who are just curious.”

The priority should remain testing only those with symptoms or compromised immune systems, and essential workers and older people, she said.

Professor Upton added that testing should be done selectively even in locations where tests are readily available and where results can be delivered quickly.

“The whole system is unfair,” she said. “And so to take advantage of surpluses in certain places in the market is to add to the injustice to people who didn’t have availability in the first place.”