Didn’t the companies that created the tests come out and say to just swab the nose because they didn’t design the tests for throat swabs?
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130 faculty/staff tested positive during Christmas week (Dec 25-31) at my kid’s school, when there were no activities of any kind on campus, other than regular covid testing. Given that degree of contagion, I expect everyone will get it and we will move on from these quite ineffective mitigation measures.
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" Throat swab. Swab the throat and the nose to better detect Omicron. The UK has actually recommended this method since May 2020 for many of its tests (see instructions below). Here is their YouTube video. Avoid swabbing your throat after eating/drinking anything acidic — like coffee, soda, or fruit juices — as this could produce a false positive."
I saw a news report last night with doctors saying not to swab the throat. This isn’t how the tests were designed or approved. They were quite critical of posts on social media telling people to swab throats.
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The UK tests designed for throat swabbing say in the instructions not to eat or drink for 30 mins before taking the test.
Anyone who wants to be dishonest is not going to swab the inside of their nose or throat. They won’t swab.
Right! They will use someone else’s negative test.
My daughter’s large Texas state university sent out email that faculty can make temporary changes in each course modalities. (to hybrid or online) for up to 3 weeks ending no later than February 4th
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They have finally given the students uploading info. Apparently someone from the health center will review and approve the tests and give each student official clearance to return to campus (their id cards will not be reactivated until they are cleared). That’s a lot of tests to review in a short time frame. I feel for the many families scrambling with tests and flights - if they can’t get an answer and get the test uploaded and cleared before the flight, they won’t be able to get into their dorm - or if they’re in flight and get an asymptomatic positive, they’ll have to stay in a hotel.
You can order “at home collection” PCR tests. You register, schedule an online session where they observe you taking the sample correctly, drop it off for UPS overnight that day. They get it the next day - and email your son an official lab report PDF 24-48 hrs later to wherever he might be by then.
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Okay. I will look into that. My worry is that even that will get slowed down, given current conditions. Even shipping is screwed up. I had a package overnighted Dec 28 for arrival on Dec 29. Still not here. I think I’m going to see if school would accept two rapid tests day of departure if necessary. Day 4 now on other kid’s PCR when insert says “up to 72 hours” for results. So frustrating.
I understand. At least in our case, my daughter tested herself (with video observation) Monday afternoon (in the NYC suburbs, which are absolutely peaking right now), dropped it off with UPS - got an email confirmation from VaultHealth.com by noon the next day that the sample had been received at their local lab, and received her negative lab report almost exactly 24h later (Wednesday).
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Meaning still 2-3 days to get the results after the test. Still a difficult logistics problem for the student who needs the test within 3 days of arrival, and not very effective from the college’s point of view at stopping students from bringing in the virus (student could have an infection that is not yet detectable, or could get infected after the test). Pretesting 3 days before arrival would only be effective of the person quarantined starting 3+ days before the test and until arrival (hard to do if there are airline flights or train or bus rides involved). But no college that I have heard of has asked students to quarantine the week before arrival, probably because it is not practical for many, and even those who could probably would see it as too much of a burden.
Really, if a college wanted to stop incoming virus, they would have rapid testing (which tends to detect when one is contagious) on arrival and each of the next 4+ days. If they had the money / test availability (unlikely in the US, but maybe some of the very wealthy colleges popular on these forums have the money), they could have everyone (students, faculty, staff) do a rapid test every day, and quarantine on days they test positive.
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I think the colleges realize the system isn’t perfect, but it seems to be a case of them trying not to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
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Except that what they are doing (asking for a PCR test within 3 days of arrival) is not that good – lots of ways for the virus to escape detection on the way in, while being more inconvenient for the students.
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Maybe I misunderstand:
- Make your tele-appointment “3 days prior to (planned) arrival”; drop off sample at UPS for overnight lab delivery.
- Fly to college.
- Present Lab Report to college as it comes in.
What am I missing?
(Sorry, not interested in debating the wisdom. Just offering a solution for those where physical appointments and subsequent turnaround times might be the limiting factor).
If the sampling kit does not arrive in time…
If the delivery by UPS is not on time…
If the analysis of the sample is delayed due to backlog…
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If all these things happen the college will understand.
D’s is doing both—as are other schools . Pcr beforehand done by student then antigen testing by school, in all students on arrival ….we shall see.
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