At-home COVID test now available in Yuma
News 11's Arlette Yousif finds out just how accurate at-home COVID tests really are
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - COVID testing can now be done in the comfort of your own home for about $20. Medical device companies that manufacture items such as thermometers and glucose monitors now distribute at-home rapid COVID tests.
If you order a rapid COVID test online, you don’t have to leave home at all. But the test is less accurate than those you can get in person.
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing is more accurate than rapid or antigen testing. However, home testing is there to provide peace of mind. Though it can be problematic according to Yuma Regional Medical Center Dr. Ryan Swapp.
"That's great as long as the test is what you think it should be. But as soon as it's not, then that's really a problem and it can't help you there because it's not an accurate test."
And if the test doesn’t align with your symptoms…
"The next step would be to do the PCR test. That’s very specific and sensitive. That’s gonna give you the answer that you really need," says Dr. Swapp
Dr. Swapp recommends a follow-up PCR test, especially when your symptoms are likely due to COVID. He says that loss of taste or smell is likely to only point to COVID as a culprit.
"If you have a symptom that you’ve lost your sense of taste and smell and you’ve got a positive test, I think, you know, you have a high probability that that’s true. If you just feel kind of yucky. You get a positive test, then it’s a good time to go ahead and, and do that PCR test," explains Dr. Swapp.
One local says it’s still a good idea.
"I think it’d be very useful. I wish they’d make the rapid result test more readily available to everyone else. I’ve had two different tests with rapid results and I don’t have it," says Yuma local Kristina Owens.
A point to be made from both perspectives. Dr. Swapp says the accuracy of a PCR test is worth the wait and eliminates the stress of a false positive or negative.
"As a whole, we are not gonna run into the kind of problems that antigen testing lends itself to. I mean, it’s just more headache than it’s worth in almost every scenario," says Dr. Swapp.
Still, sports teams have been using rapid tests before practice and games during the pandemic even though they are not as accurate as the PCR covid test.
