Had a scratchy throat this morning after traveling last week so cracked open one of the free at-home tests. Instructions were in Spanish! I’ve done enough of these to know the procedure and sé un poco de español. Results negative.
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Ordered a new batch… we used up the previous batch when we had sniffles.
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I just ordered some for the first time. I have a bunch here but we havent had occasion to use them and they’re set to expire. Might as well have some with further out expiration dates.
You can order free kits again. This time it’s 4 packs.
Is anyone else hesitant to keep ordering tests that don’t seem to catch so many Omicron cases? I just know so many vax’d & boosted people who are negative on the rapid and positive on the PCD. H asked me if I was going to order some. We still have 2 left. i wasn’t going to, but maybe I will since they are free and easy to get. I just don’t have much faith in a negative result anymore.
I was diagnosed with Covid on Mother’s Day with a rapid test, had a faint-line positive the following Saturday, fainter on Sunday, gone on Monday. So the tests certainly worked for me.
I look at it this way. If I felt bad and used a rapid if it told me positive I’d believe it and if it told me negative I would proceed with caution and see how I felt the next couple of days before taking another rapid or seeking otherwise. It still feels like a good step/option to me.
I also don’t trust that we are “out of the woods” - so having tests on hand even if for after summer seems like a good planning step. We are not hoarding but like having a good handful for us or family members who may be visiting or need one while in town.
I know they CAN come up positive. I just know in the last 4-6 weeks alone, I have had 8 friends/family/acquaintances who were vax’d/boosted and symptomatic. They were negative on the rapid test and then were positive on the PCR. That just seems like a lot in a short period of time. And they were scattered around the country, so it wasn’t just one cluster.
I wound up ordering some. I figure that if it’s positive, then you definitely know. But if it’s negative, then you really don’t know. Better than nothing.
I definitely don’t think we are out of the woods. Edit: I just heard a conversation between two people in the hall (I’m at my desk)… “Oh, I see you are dealing with the sinus stuff too. I hope you feel better” Yeah, I think it’s everywhere. Just assume everyone you see is sick. (mostly kidding)
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When H, D2 and I all contracted Omicron earlier this year we all had positive home tests (we are all vaxed and boosted). I had not heard that the latest version of Omicron was not testing positive on home tests.
The folks who tested negative on the home test and then positive on the PCR, did they continue using rapid tests? Because there is a thing with vaccinated folks, that you may show symptoms before testing positive on a rapid test and the thinking is that you may not be shedding enough virus to test positive or to be infectious during those early days. Which is totally different from what they said originally in unvaccinated people about being most contagious right before symptoms. There still seems to be a general consensus that if you test positive on a rapid test that means infectious. Negative does not. Although it could also be true false negatives your friends had.
This is what I have read recently - vaxxed and boosted people (and maybe those with previous infection - not sure) are getting symptoms FIRST, before being infectious - because the increased antibodies immediately pick up that the enemy virus is present so symptoms begin, before the virus has replicated enough to be contagious. So highest chance of correctly testing positive is to test on days 3-5 after onset of symptoms. If you test on just day 1 and/or 2 of symptoms, you may miss the infection.
My neighbors were vaxxed and boosted and still caught Covid. Her husband initially thought it was allergy and did not take the test until symptoms got worse. He took the antiviral meds on the 5th day of the cycle and suffered for a whole week. She tested daily after his symptoms, tested positive and went on the meds right away. She felt better after only 2 days of antiviral.
You have a 5-day window for the antiviral meds to work. Test often and test early. They are free. Why not?
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While the tests are free, they (or at least the free ones) are not plentiful enough to use almost daily, if sniffles and such occur close to that frequently.
That’s exactly what happened to me. I was vaccinated and boosted and was with family at a baby shower on a Saturday. Got a text Monday night that a family member who was there had started having symptoms on Sunday and tested positive Monday. I had very mild symptoms on Monday but tested negative with a rapid test. Much worse symptoms on Tuesday but still negative on rapid test. Wednesday I had a PCR test and was positive. Was curious after I got the positive PCR so I took also took a rapid test Wednesday and that was positive. So, it seems it took me 4 days from being exposed and 2 of symptoms before I tested positive.
We were hoping to visit my daughter at school about 2 weeks later so I was trying REALLY hard to keep my husband from catching it so I basically lived upstairs in our house and he stayed on the main floor. After a week or so from testing positive I started doing rapid tests daily and it took a good 10 days after my first positive to test negative with a rapid test, which was probably about 2 weeks after I was exposed.
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In Washington state, we can order up to 10 tests monthly. Insurance also allows up to 8 per month.
We test the first day of symptoms then 4 or 5 days afterwards to make sure. Allergies usually clear up with claritin so we knew. We also test before getting together with my elders or when we came back from a trip. We still have plenty on our hands.
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This round of tests ships very quickly. Mine are already scheduled to arrive on Friday. I ordered them on Monday.
I ordered Monday and they’re out for delivery today.
Please let us know when the new batch of govt tests expire. That’s why I’m waiting. Thanks
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Just received the four boxes of two each iHealth kits. Half were dated 8/16/2022 and half 8/19/2022. But I checked the lot numbers on the iHealth web site and both expiration dates have been extended three more months, so expirations in November 2022. The same happened with my earlier government iHealth kits.
The four FlowFlex tests that my husband got last week at CVS covered by Medicare have expirations of 11/16/2022. The eight BinexNow tests that I got a few weeks ago at Walgreens covered by Medicare have expirations of 6/4/2023. Based on that info, I suspect the other companies will continue to extend expiration dates - they likely just got their product testing started later.