PCR tests | Coronavirus disease (COVID) - What is COVID-19, and how is it detected?
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Here are a couple of things that might be holding up the show behind the scenes. Patience, as they say, is a virtue. Some labs differ in their guaranteed collection times, and this matter may be further complicated when you factor in things like couriers and even USPS pick-up and delivery times. If your specimen hits Quest Diagnostics today, for example, their schedule follows an end-of-day rule.
That is, your expected turnaround time for results will begin at the end of the calendar day upon which the delivery was received. If there are a lot of patrons coming through a given point of service or a lot of tests to examine back at the lab, getting through them all simply takes time. With more people making COVID testing a priority than ever, our infrastructure is slowly growing to adapt to the demand.
Your PCR specimen is rarely analyzed at your point of service. In order to receive your results, it needs to make it to the lab and back to your testing provider. The courier? According to insiders, it takes less time for a positive result to register than a negative result.
Why keep holding things up? Many rapid result tests guarantee results in as little as twenty minutes, and on-site RT-PCR testing may only take a few hours to process. For whatever reason, there is still viral genetic material hanging out in their nose.
Rapid tests are less sensitive, but a person will probably still test positive for six or seven days after they are no longer having symptoms, Gronvall said.
If you have gotten a positive result on a test, there is no point in testing any further. The only time to retest is if you test negative after you have been exposed to someone with the virus or if you have symptoms. It can take time for the virus to build up to levels that are detectable. With a rapid test, you may test positive for six or seven days after your symptoms have cleared. The information in this article is current as of the date listed, which means newer information may be available when you read this.
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