Some say people should be advised to take a negative test before leaving isolation - prior to day 10, for example. A big caveat, though, is that some experts think that the CDC is a little too relaxed in its guidance. Once you test positive, you should follow the CDC's guidance for isolating (staying away from others if you're sick or test positive for COVID-19). Follow the CDC guidance on isolation (or be even more cautious) There are two important steps to take after a positive home test result. Home tests are also good at detecting BA.5 infections. Then, after a couple of spaced-out negative tests, you'll be able to feel more confident that your negative result is truly negative. "If you test negative on an at-home test but think you have COVID-19 because you have symptoms or were exposed, consider testing again 24 to 48 hours later," the CDC said.
While it's true at-home rapid tests are less sensitive than the "gold standard" PCR tests (about 10% to 20% less sensitive, according to Hackensack Meridian Health), and more likely to give you a false negative result, positive results from self-tests are "highly reliable," according to the CDC. If you take an at-home rapid test and it turns up positive, assume you have COVID-19. Here's what to do if you test positive for COVID-19 at home, and a brush-up on isolation and quarantine guidance.Ģ things to do if you test positive for COVID-19 at home "And therefore also underestimate the number of what we know as our COVID transmission rates per 100,000 population."Įven though it may not make it into the US COVID-19 case counts, the CDC encourages people who test positive to report that result to their health care provider (or public health department, if they don't have a primary care doctor), if only to gauge their individual risk of COVID-19 and see which treatments are available. "These at-home rapid tests result in us underestimating the number of people who truly have COVID," said Keri Althoff, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
But knowing the case count in your community can still be an important tool when deciding whether it's safe to go to a movie theater or dine indoors.
This year, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention changed the way it monitors COVID-19 risk in the US to include measures like hospitalization numbers, health care capacity and the level of virus in our wastewater.
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.Ī large number of people testing positive for COVID-19 at home is one reason experts think the current case numbers may be big underestimations.