It was a courtesyhe felt perfectly fine but he tested positive.
By the next day, he was sick as a dog.
Cases of long COVID arecrushingour medical system, too.
The two best tools to avoid getting COVID continue to be masking and testing.
This is why home testing kits are so important.
Almost all at-home tests were lateral flow tests, also known as rapid antigen tests (RATs).
This is why, if you already have symptoms, a negative antigen test isn’t conclusive.
You may need to testa number of timesto confirm you have COVID.
RATs were designed to be taken multiple times in sequence.
Molecular tests, on the other hand, measure RNA and can detect even small amounts of the virus.
That means it affects the blood vessels in your body, which go everywhere.
First, you’re able to only get the interventionPaxlovidwithin the first five days of symptoms.
Anti-virals like Paxlovid knock down your viral load, one of the things we think helpsprevent long COVID.
In other words, absolutely anything out of the ordinary.
In both cases, theyll be expensive.
Fortunately, there are molecular (PCR quality) tests you’re able to take at home.
Rapid molecular tests require a similar effort on your part as a RAT test.
Youll swab yourself and then insert that swab into a machine that gives you a result.
There are currently just four brands of these tests available:Lucira,Metrix,3EO,andPlusLife.
Prices have gone down, so now theyre more accessibleas low as $10 a test.
Here are your options.
Lucira is one of the easier tests to use, with only a few steps.
First, you insert batteries into the testing hub, which is disposable.
Can only test one person at a time, in 30-minute intervals; reader requires power.
You connect the plastic part to a compartment of liquid, snapping them together.
After 30 minutes, you’ll have a result.
Reader requires power, can only test one person at a time in 30-minute intervals.
3EOuses a reader, like many of the other tests, but has fewer parts and steps.
Press a button on the reader and wait 30 minutes for a result.
High level of accuracy.
While the costs amortize over time, the hub is very expensive to start.
One of the most complicated processes for testing.
Can only test one person at a time (a far more expensive, eight-person reader is available).
A previous version of this article referred to these at-home tests as PCR tests.
This article was updated 11/12/2024 to note that these are molecular tests but not necessarily PCR tests.
They are, however, similar in method and accuracy to true PCR tests.
