@dietz199 Maryland.
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From what I have read, it provides more accuracy than what you are posting. There is nothing that is 100% accurate, but if I am tested positive even if I donāt have any symptoms, it gives my mom and the baby additional protection.
If I have any symptoms, even if itās just a cold, I would not want to visit my mom or the baby.
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Yale New Haven Health had been my go-to for PCR testing. I had been able to schedule same day appt as of two weeks-16 days ago, but now the next available appt in Fairfield or New Haven counties is Jan 13th. Patients with a Drās orders or requiring pre-surgical PCR can be seen sooner.
I agree with you that access is increasingly scarce. Test sites have been closing early due to both staffing and supply shortages. Even the private pay sites have resorted to offering antigen instead of PCR tests.
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I believe the accuracy rates they are quoting on that site are clinical - meaning not only are the people symptomatic, they are in a clinical setting (others on this thread can confirm if I am right about that). I didnāt see any guidance on that site about your situation where you are asymptomatic and non-clinical. I would research that more if you want to protect your mom and grandbaby - specifically research your situation - asymptomatic and non-clinical.
Is this saying that a negative rapid test means you arenāt infectious? I havenāt seen that stated so confidently elsewhere. @homerdog will be on the edge of their seat until you answer!!!
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Ha! Yes, highest levels of antigen during infectious period.
More info here:
https://twitter.com/michaelmina_lab/status/1472024457640394756?s=21&fbclid=IwAR3VwiBrdr0zPInI8jbcjUdl2KlrDu9Rz-ppW9G_9dzFm7bNNWB46xWfwzo
This is what I have been reading. Rapid tests detect whether you are contagious and that can be few days before you have any symptoms.
To me, thatās a better test when visiting vulnerable people.
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But it seems like people arenāt testing positive on antigen tests until a couple of days into symptoms.
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Ok, but how about a link from a guy who doesnāt work at a testing company? 
I completely get the concept of what you are posting - and yet I have seen the same 67% number that @homerdog posted. How does one reconcile these answers being so different? Test misuse? Something else?
I am with you on the great information when you test positive with that test. Love that. My concern is what to think when you test negativeā¦
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Where are you getting that information?
IRL most people are not doing any tests until they are symptomatic. I am saying that I am going to do a test before I visit my mom and grand baby even if I am not symptomatic.
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So basically, rapid testing tells if you are contagious, although you could be infected but not (yet) contagious when a PCR test would test positive but a rapid test would not.
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Our son was symptomatic and had negative test. Didnāt test positive on rapid until day three of symptoms.
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One positive about Covid for most peopleā¦they are really thinking about how they feel before they venture out to work, or to visit others. I view this as a very big plus, having worked at a school where sick kids were often sent to school, and where sick teachers often came to work. Those days are gone. If they even have a symptom, they are sent home.
I also like that some asymptomatic folks are at least trying to test to figure out if visiting or going to work is a smart ideaā¦or not. And I thank them for trying!
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False negatives for Omicron are being studied as we speak: FYI, Rapid Antigen Tests May Give More False Negatives With Omicron : ScienceAlert.
If you are trying to use it asymptomically (which I donāt think it was originally intended for?) then they recommend serial testing a couple times 24-36 hours apart.
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Some smart folks have noticed nasal tests being negative when theyāre sure they have Covid, from symptoms and exposure history. Many have sore throats and since the primary symptom is there, and not the nose, postulated that the higher viral load might actually be in the oropharynx (OP) so have swabbed the tonsillar area/back of mouth and are strongly positive on the Binax on the OP swab, while still negative on the nasal. Other countries do this as part of their swabbing - are swabbing the nose and OP in the same swab. Additionally, omicron in particular has been widely reported to replicate in this area and not in the lungs (I think someone posted a link above or on another thread).
From the UK:
Some physicians are testing themselves at home and are noticing the same results.
Hereās a recent article:
Tl;dr: swab the back of the throat, then the nose in your rapid at home tests
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Post 4526 diagram explains why vaccinated people may get symptoms (from a fast immune reaction) before viral loads are high enough to be contagious or detectable by rapid tests.
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Thank you very much for finding and posting this. It helps to make sense of what I see happening with Omicron. One example, a friend in NYC got rapid and PCR tests at the same time (required to get PCR if he wanted a rapid) on Friday prior to a New Years Eve gathering. The rapid test was negative, but the PCR result came in last night and was positive. Heās vaxxed and boosted and just feeling a bit under the weather though pretty upset and concerned that he may have exposed an elderly medically fragile relative despite making every effort to be sure he didnāt.
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