Coronavirus spreads. But don't panic! (topical thread)

[Dom]

My son in law was scheduled for a colonoscopy this past Friday at a hospital near us. When he went for his colonoscopy he was told that he had tested positive for COVID, so the hospital cancelled out. He had no symptoms whatsoever. He scheduled an appointment for another COVID test at a different location, two days later. This time the test showed negative, that he didn't have COVID. Both were rapid tests. So now I'm wondering if his first test will be counted among the State and National for COVID infections, or will the second test cancel out the first test and not be counted among the infected. We also have a family who is 94 years old in an assisted living facility. She's legally blind and deaf and tested positive for COVID. Like my son in law, she showed no symptoms whatsoever. She was quarantined for 14 days, then released, and is doing fine. I was tested yesterday and I'm waiting for the results, mine wasn't the rapid testing. So now, I'm wondering how accurate these tests really are and if the national rate of infections actually reflect the true infection rates. Elon Musk was another person who at first tested positive with COVID, but a second test showed that he was negative. These aren't isolated incidences.

As one who works in the medical field, I agree that the tests sometimes aren't conclusive whatsoever. There have been false positives. I don't know enough about the virus to formulate an opinion. Which is why I don't trust the vaccine at this point in time.

I declined the vaccine because we need to know more.

I know a few people in the medical field who are saying the same thing you are about the vaccine. My daughter's an RN and my son in law is also in the medical field and both are kind of up in the air about it. I plan to take the vaccine at some point but I may wait to take it to see if anymore information comes up about it.

Rapid antigen tests
Rapid antigen tests look for signs that a person has protein segments, or antigens for SARS-CoV-2.
These tests are much less sensitive (and accurate) than an RT-PCR test, Baird says.
These antigen tests don’t indicate whether a person is in the middle of an active infection.
Quidel’s Sofia, BD’s Veritor, Abbott’s BinaxNow, and the LumiraDx are rapid antigen tests.

Lots more on all the different types of testing: Here’s What Is Going On with Rapid COVID-19 Testing (healthline.com)


As far as the vaccine goes, millions of people will have been vaccinated by the time I get it, and months will have passed. I think it will be more safe at that time.