Ordered our household's ration of 4 #COVID tests yesterday. Thanks US taxpayers!
Get yours: https://special.usps.com/testkits
4 per household is GROSSLY inadequate. It will test ONE of your household members for ONE exposure.
For each exposure you need to test 3 times, waiting 48h in between each test, so you don't miss it. These antigen tests are notorious for false negatives.
Don't waste the tests you already have! Their expiration dates have been magically extended (prob by about 3 months).
You might ask why the government was sitting on tests, letting them expire, instead of sending them to low-income households especially essential workers, along with free N95 masks or respirators. Especially because taxpayers already paid for them.
You may not be aware that 3 tests w/48 hours in between each is the proper testing regimen to detect your #COVID infection after a potential exposure.
If so, you might ask why your government isn't informing you of their own guidelines, even though they were issued by the FDA (the agency that regulates medical devices including #COVIDTests) over a year ago, based on an FDA/NIH study. (See screenshots.)
This thread (by a compsci PhD I think) helps explain why we need 3 antigen tests over 4 days to get a reliable diagnosis of infection, and why you are highly, highly likely to get a false negative test if you only test once - even if you have symptoms.
The tests rely on detecting nucleocapsids, which is good for their longevity as the virus continues its blistering pace of mutation, but bad for timely diagnoses.
Sadly, it doesn’t mention FDA guidance to test 3 times.
https://progressives.social/@Wikisteff@mastodon.social/111143881142304564
Attached: 1 image However, the tests need nucleocapsid protein there to detect, which only appears later on in infections at high volumes. Early on in an infection, tests don't work great. Symptoms usually appear on Days 2, 3, and 4 after infection; however, RAT tests only have about a 34% sensitivity on Day 3, rising to 67% on Day 4, and 80% on Day 5 for symptomatic individuals. That's because most people have antibodies now, and our immune systems respond at lower doses than RAT tests.
Erin Conroy
Diane Hallinen