The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has approved four COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) self-test kits that meet the required safety, efficacy and quality standards, for individuals to administer on their own. One of these is Californian-based, Quidel Corporation’s QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test.
Above: The box packaging and contents for the QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test
The test can be used for individuals aged two and older. Each kit contains two sets of test strips for users to test themselves (or their kids) twice over two to three days to confirm their negative status, with the second swab to be done after 24 to 36 hours from the first. To swab, users just need to graze the nasal passage at about 2cm into the nostrils (unlike clinical swabbing which needs to be inserted deeply into the nasal cavity). And similar to an at-home pregnancy test, the strip will display results on it after 10 minutes — it is advised for users to observe the strip at the 10-minute mark, not earlier, and not later than five minutes after the 10-minute mark, as the readings may become inaccurate.
Above: How to use the QuickVue At-Home COVID-19 Test (illustration taken from quidel’s WEBSITE)
Above: A positive result is indicated by a blue and pink line on the strip
A positive result will show up as both a blue and pink line on the strip, and if you do test positive, you need to immediately approach a clinic and get a professional swab to confirm your status. Also, self-isolate until you receive a negative PCR test result. A negative result will show up as just a blue line with no pink line visible.
But is the test accurate? Quidel Corporation says that the test was compared to an FDA authorised molecular SARS-CoV-2 test, and the interim results of the clinical study showed that it correctly identified 83.5% of positive specimens, and 99.2% of negative specimens.
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