The testing of patients for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been proposed as a mechanism for protecting patients and healthcare workers during the current Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.1 However, when detected by nucleic acid amplification using polymerase chain reaction (PCR), there is the possibility of false negative results with these tests.2 In addition, the test only assesses for virus at a single point in time, and if a patient is still early in the incubation phase the presence of virus can be missed. Both of these factors may lead healthcare workers to be falsely reassured by a negative PCR test result. Finally, there is little published evidence that testing patients who are not considered persons of interest (PUI) or not exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19 infection increases the safety of the hospital environment.