3 Individual COVID-19 Rapid Home Tests
The US Food and Drug Administration has granted an Emergency Use Authorization to an over the counter (OTC) COVID-19 test that agency officials say will double at-home testing capacity.
SARS-CoV-2 Antigen tests play a critical role in the fight against COVID-19. There is emerging thinking that self-testing options could potentially support the COVID-19 response by reducing community spread, when linked to appropriate responses for isolation, contract tracing and care. In addition, modelling shows that if self-testing is performed frequently, and if patients are compliant with countermeasures, it could have a greater impact on transmission than one-time testing using more sensitive but slower laboratory-based diagnostics.
The inability to find at-home tests has led to people driving from store to store, monitoring online sellers, and trading tips with others. It’s also suspected, at least in part, of contributing to long lines at testing sites throughout the US.
The Flowflex test only needs to be taken once if a person is symptomatic, according to the FDA. Other tests need to be taken twice, with days between them, in case the amount of viral protein does not meet the detection threshold of the first test.
Performance
- Relative Sensitivity: 97.1% (95% CI: 93.1%-98.9%)*
- Relative Specificity: 99.5% (95% CI: 98.2%-99.9%)*
- Accuracy: 98.8% (95% CI: 97.6%-99.5%)*
* In order to offer you free shipping, we send these tests without retail packaging, in a plastic bag.
