Before you begin, blow your nose. Wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds or use hand sanitiser. Place your test kit on a clean surface such as a table.
Remove the swab from the packet from the stick end. Do not touch the fabric tip soft part of the swab or let it touch anything else. Using a mirror, take a look at the back of your throat, at your tonsil area. Holding the stick end of the swab, open your mouth and rub the fabric tip of the swab over your tonsils for 10 seconds.
Remove the swab carefully without touching anything else inside of your mouth. This is usually about 2. Once inside, rotate the swab for 10 to 15 seconds inside your nose.
Unscrew the cap off your sample tube and insert the swab fabric end first into the tube. Snap off the stick at the break point. This helps to make sure no germs from your hands mix with your test. Screw the cap onto the tube tightly. Clean your hands again. Put the absorbent pad into the zip-lock bag then place the tube pad in the same bag. Seal the bag. According to a study, about 80 percent of people who contract the new coronavirus have mild symptoms, but people over age 80 years and people with underlying health conditions are at an elevated risk for needing emergency care.
Antibodies are proteins that your immune system makes after mounting a successful immune response to the virus that causes COVID Molecular tests and antigen tests are the two types of tests that can tell you if you currently have COVID Molecular tests generally take longer but are more accurate. When taken within 5 days of the onset of your symptoms, they correctly identify a positive test more than 90 percent of the time, if done within 5 days of symptoms, according to a study.
However, the effectiveness of the test in identifying the presence of the new coronavirus quickly decreases to roughly 70—71 percent between days 9 and During a PCR test, your doctor typically takes a swab of your nose and throat.
The sample is then sent to a lab for processing. Clinics that can process your results onsite may be able to provide you with your results within hours. Clinics that have to send away for results — or clinics with a backlog of tests — may take a week or more to return your results.
Rapid PCR tests are now available, although there is some concern among healthcare professionals about their accuracy. Antigen tests, also called serological tests, attempt to detect certain proteins on the surface of the virus. Antigen tests are also referred to as rapid tests because some clinics can provide you results within minutes. There are two main types of test; lateral flow tests , which provide results in as little as 30 minutes, and PCR tests , which take longer but are more accurate.
Lateral flow tests are for people without symptoms. They can be administered yourself at home and are helpful since roughly one in three people who catch Covid are asymptomatic.
The NHS offers free lateral flow tests , which you can collect from pharmacies or have sent to your home. If you have any of the following three Covid symptoms, even if mild, you should order a PCR test as soon as possible:. You can order a PCR test kit to be sent to your home to administer yourself, or book an appointment at a walk-in or drive-through test site.
To order your test online, head here. When you take an NHS test, you then have to send it off to a lab to be analysed. All the instructions for this will be within your test package. For the NHS PCR tests, most people get their results the day after sending their testing kit off, but it can take up to three days.
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