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Desperate American families are sharing a single Covid-19 test swab to preserve at-home Covid-19 testing kits.
As the Omicron variant sweeps through the country, a shortage of Covid-19 at home rapid tests in the US, has forced some families to share a single nasal swab to preserve their limited test kits.
Elena Korngold, a radiologist, told The Atlantic, how her husband, a cardiologist and two kids had to share a single swab for their BinaxNOW Covid-19 test and then insert it into the testing card.
At-home Covid-19 tests have become nearly impossible to find in many American towns and cities. On Christmas Eve, massive crowds of people were pictured scrambling to get free Covid-19 testing kits from New York City workers.
Each Covid-19 testing kit contains two tests and each person is given enough for their entire family. To prolong their supply of test kits some Americans have started sharing nasal swabs with their family.
When the group test is negative, they conclude that everyone is in the clear thereby saving several testing kits for future use. In case the group test is positive, they further test family members individually.
Public health experts have warned that using rapid tests like this won’t produce reliable results and sticking the same swab up multiple noses was ‘gross’ and ‘unsafe’.
‘From a public-health perspective, the idea of sticking swabs up each other’s noses doesn’t sound like a great thing to do,’ Jennifer Nuzzo, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, told the Atlantic.
The Atlantic reported that the method was similar to pool PCR testing, which is normally done at schools, sports leagues and hospitals. The method takes individually provided samples from asymptomatic people which are then tested as one sample. If that test comes back positive, each individual sample would then be tested.
However, experts told the Atlantic that pool PCR testing was designed to accommodate multiple samples, whereas at-home tests are only meant for individual use. Multiple people using the same nasal swab could dilute the virus sample and yield inaccurate results.
This creative but bizarre method of testing also increases the risk of someone spreading the Covid-19 virus by 15% and 35% to a house member that does not have the virus. It could also spread other germs apart from the coronavirus.
The White House issued a statement last week saying half a billion tests will be available for order, which will be mailed directly to American households.
‘There will be free tests available for every household, and to promote broad access, the initial program will allow four free tests to be requested per residential address,’ said the statement.
Starting January 19, Americans are able to order their tests online at COVIDTests.gov, with tests said to ship within 7-12 days of ordering.
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