Make Use Of At-Home Rapid Test Kits The Correct Way

The US is now seeing a potential outbreak that is almost similar to the delta variant in mid-summer. Millions of people are now getting hospitalized as the daily count has risen up to 400,000 per day. Even though hospitalization is still less as compared to summer peak, this has caused a huge pain for the economy and other areas.

Make Use Of At-Home Rapid Test Kits The Correct Way

It has been observed that people who are using at-home test kits are putting the swab more deep in their throat as they think this will make the results more accurate for the kits. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has stated that doing this can harm a person very badly and people should follow the guidelines which are mentioned on the at-home test kits.

Jim McKinney, who is a spokesperson for FDA stated that using throat swabs is much more complicated when compared to nasal swabs and this should be done with utmost precaution else the person will have to rush to the ER.

FDA in the earlier week had stated that some of the test kits might not be up to the mark in detecting the new covid variant – Omicron, however, this is still an important tool and if people see a positive result from the test kit, they should go the doctor or a healthcare professional and seek their medical opinion as well. 

CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) last week had stated that the isolation period of asymptomatic patients can be reduced to 5 days from 10 days. However, as per the new guidelines, the patient will have to do a test and see if they are still positive after the 5th day. If found positive, the patient is to stay in isolation and inform the doctor about his or her condition, and if found negative, then they can get back to their normal life.

The federal government announcing free at0 home test kits for every American was widely appreciated. Earlier the test kits used to cost somewhere between $7 to $15 and were not affordable by everyone. However, in the last month, the federal government stated that anyone having an insurance package from an employer or a private one can get free at-home test kits. The person needs to preserve the bill of the purchase and can later reimburse the same from their insurance provider.

However, it was noted that many people do not have health insurance and can’t afford to buy them. The government further announced that many of the government hospitals in the area will be providing free at-home test kits as well for the people who do not have any health insurance. People just need to contact the hospital and ask them about the availability of test kits and the time when they will be distributed.

This has brought relief across the country as many people came back from vacations and must have traveled a lot. These test kits could ensure their safety as well as that of their family members as well. Since many of the schools are still continuing with in-person learning, parents have to test their kids at least twice a week.

The Pentagon also gave out a $137 million deal to MilliporeSigma who is going to mass-produce these test kits. The main production output of this company is the paper that displays the result of the test kits from the throat swabs. The company stated that it will be ready to roll out 83 million test kids every month with this funding. FDA is giving the green light to many other companies as well who had placed their test kits under review.