We are in the peak season for two activities which are higher risk in a pandemic: parties and travelling.
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On top of that, numbers of infections are rising fast - soaring in some places - so the demand for testing is rising fast - soaring in some places.
Some testing sites were at capacity even before they opened on Thursday morning. Pharmacies said rapid antigen test kits were selling like hot cakes.
So what do you need to know?
Which test?
There are basically two sorts: the rapid antigen test and the PCR test. The rapid test is quicker and more convenient than the PCR but less accurate. The PCR is time-consuming but usually free.
If you go to one of the testing sites, you are given the PCR test. A sample of fluid from the back of your throat and inside each nostril is taken (in a drive-through site without you leaving the car) and analysed in a lab. The result is then texted to you, usually well within 48 hours.
The rapid antigen test, on the other hand, can be bought over the counter and done at home.
It involves taking samples from the nose, mixing the sample with a fluid and putting drops of the fluid on a small device (much like a pregnancy test).
One red line indicates a "clear of COVID"; two red lines means "infected". The result appears before your eyes within half an hour. Some tests use saliva - spit - instead of the nose sample.
The PCR test is more accurate than the rapid antigen test, particularly if you are infected but no symptoms have appeared yet. The more of the virus you have (viral load), the more accurate the rapid test will be, so it's less accurate in the early and late days of infection.
Rapid or PCR?
Rapid antigen tests are still quite accurate. A study by Australian academics found that they correctly detected COVID in the taker three in every four times.
When symptoms have developed, the rapid test gets it right virtually every time.
So the rapid test is not to be sneezed at.
According to Professor Thea van de Mortel of the School of Nursing at Griffith University, you should take the more accurate PCR test if you ...
- have COVID symptoms
- have a known exposure to someone with COVID
- do a rapid antigen test and get a positive result
And you should take the rapid antigen test, if you ...
- are planning to visit a sensitive site (for example, an aged care facility)
- are planning to have contact with someone at high risk from COVID (for example, an elderly person), and you want to protect them
- are going to an indoor event where lots of people will be mixing
- want to quickly check whether you might be infected
- if your work requires it (as some building sites do, for example)
"While a negative rapid antigen test result is not a guarantee that you aren't infected, it does provide more protection for your contacts than not testing," Professor van de Mortel wrote.
Cost
In other countries, the rapid test is free. In Britain, people order batches online and they come the next day in the post.
In Australia, they have to be bought unless your employer provides them as a necessary work tool.
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They normally cost around $10 to $15 but come in batches. The bigger the batch, the lower the cost of each test. Costco, for example, is selling cartons of 20 tests for $149.99 - $7.50 each.
As demand rises, more offers are appearing online. Prices may change, according to supply and demand.
Are they all equal?
They are not.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved 15 rapid antigen tests. It has ranged their accuracy from "acceptable sensitivity" to "very high sensitivity", according to how the manufacturers say their tests get the proportion of correct test results.
The least accurate tests available in Australia get it right for 82.5 per cent of cases of COVID.
The most accurate get it right more than 95 per cent of the time. The more you test, the more likely it is that the result will be accurate.
The TGA describes five of the 15 tests as "very high sensitivity". They are:
- All Test Sars-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test (Nasal Swab)
- Lyher Novel Coronavirus Antigen Test Kit (Nasal Swab)
- OnSite Covid-19 Ag Self Test (Nasal Swab)
- Panbio Covid-19 Antigen Self-Test (Nasal Swab)
- V-Chek Covid-19 Antigen Test (Saliva)
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