Why You Should Report Your Rapid Test Results

COVID-19 rapid tests are easy to take—and then toss. So most people never report their results, which leaves health officials with an incomplete picture of how much virus is circulating and where. The convenience of the at-home tests have made PCR tests, which require a doctor’s prescription and a lab to run them, much less popular than they were earlier in the pandemic. PCR test results currently make up the bulk of documented case numbers, so the total is always an undercount. Knowing the true volume of cases helps health authorities direct appropriate resources, including vaccines and treatments, to areas where cases are surging and ensure that there are enough medical personnel to care for sick patients. And it can alert them to increases that could indicate a more virulent or transmissible variant. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Some states have tried to rescue rapid-test results through websites where residents can report their results. In Maryland, for instance, the At-Home Test Report Portal triggers a contact-tracing process for people who report positive results, which in turn provides people with letters to excuse them from work or school. But more complete data-gathering requires a national effort, which the federal government launched in Nov. 2022. The website MakeMyTestCount.org allows people to anonymously record whether their self-test for COVID-19 was positive or negative. “There is a big gap between the amount of testing goi...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 healthscienceclimate Source Type: news