If I tested positive for COVID-19, could it be a "false positive"?
“If you have a positive test result, it is very likely that you have COVID-19,” according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
From Monroe County (NY) Health Department:
- A person who tests positive via a rapid antigen or PCR test and has a history of exposure and/or symptoms is considered to be infected with COVID-19 and needs to be isolated.
- In cases where the positive result was from a rapid antigen test, and the person had no exposure to a positive case and no symptoms, the county would support a PCR test as a follow-up step.
What differences do the variant strains of COVID-19 make?
The CDC reports that COVID variant strains seem to spread more easily and quickly than other variants, which may lead to more cases of COVID-19.
There is evidence that people infected with the B.1.1.7 strain (UK) may have a longer infectious period, and may test positive later in the course of their illness, compared with the original strain of the virus. The B.1.1.7 strain is thought to be 45% to 50% more transmissible. This means that people infected with this variant strain may be more likely to spread the virus unknowingly while having no symptoms. (Current testing locally doesn’t identify strains.)
College planning evolves with public health protocols, which adjust based on new information about COVID-19. Nazareth’s surveillance testing is intended to identify people without symptoms, including pre-symptomatic individuals, and helps avert potential outbreaks before they occur. Contact tracing and quarantine protocols also support these efforts:
COVID-19 Process Flowchart (pdf).