9/3/2023 0 Comments Cvs covid test flag a meaningReading the test after the recommended time frame could lead to a false positive. INDICAID test kits say you should read the test after 20 minutes, but not after 25 minutes. BinaxNOW and iHealth kits say you should read the test after 15 minutes, but not after 30 minutes. "But it would be a little bit concerning for someone who has symptoms and has their test turn positive later."Įach test kit has its own recommended timeframe for reading the test. "The tests aren't really meant to be read an hour later," says Malani. This is a pretty unusual circumstance, our experts say, but one that could potentially indicate bad news. But when I came back to check the test an hour later a positive line had appeared! Then I retested three times and they all came back negative. After 15 minutes it looked like the test was negative. I was feeling a bit off and took a COVID-19 test. So that first negative test is likely a good sign, but taking an additional test 24 hours later is a great way to confirm the result and rule out errors in testing. "If you have two negative antigen tests, that's really helpful." "Usually you want a couple negative tests," says Malani. While Karan says one negative test after an appropriate amount of time is good enough, Malani says you should take two just to be sure. While that's reassuring, there wasn't agreement among our experts about exactly what to do. "If the test is negative one or two days after symptoms start, then I would maybe think you didn't get a good sample and should test again." "If it's been like five days, and the test is negative, then I would feel good about that," says Karan. Once you have tested positive and your body starts clearing the virus, a negative rapid test should be a pretty good indication you're no longer infectious, so long as you follow the test protocols correctly and wait an appropriate amount of time before testing. "They're saying to repeat the test after a day or two, but not if your first test is already positive and you're testing to become negative." "The recommendations for serial testing are for people that have been exposed and are trying to diagnose themselves," says Karan. If you suspect that you may have COVID but haven't tested positive yet, the FDA now recommends serial testing, which means you should repeat your home test after 48 hours to make sure you aren't accidentally getting a false negative test.Īnd what should you do if you already tested positive and want to know when you're finally negative? How many times do I need to test negative before it's OK to assume I'm virus-free?įiguring out when it's OK to ease up on your safety measures after catching COVID-19 can be tricky. Last week I tested positive for COVID-19 and went through the recommended 5 days of isolation and additional 5 days of masking. If there's any hint of a positive line, Bekliz recommends you continue to wear a mask, work from home if possible and generally limit contact with other people. So the bottom line, say our experts: If you're testing positive – even with a faint line - you should behave as if you are contagious. "But antigen tests are not especially sensitive, so even with a negative test, you can be contagious." "In general, a darker line is a result of more virus ," says Malani. Maybe you swabbed for less time or in only one nostril when your test instructions say to swab both. A faint line could mean you've collected less virus this time around. You're sticking a cotton swab up your nose and hoping to snare some virus. There is "some room for error" with those rapid tests, Karan says. "Some people may not be infectious because the tests could be picking up viral debris from a waning infection," says Bekliz.īut don't rip off your mask just yet: There could be other reasons for a faint line. So if the line is faint, that could mean your risk of accidentally passing the virus on to others is low. "The faintness or darkness of the line probably has some correlation to degree of infectiousness especially early on ," says Karan. What's the deal? Exactly how contagious am I? But the line on my rapid test is really faint now compared to a week ago. So I caught COVID-19 and after 10 days I'm still testing positive.
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