Rapid-result COVID-19 test has one problem — too many false negatives

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A coronavirus test that is used across Texas, including at mass testing events held in Kerr County, has one big problem — it has a risk of producing false negatives.

The Food and Drug Administration said on Jan. 4 that the false negatives create a health care issue for those who could be positive for COVID-19.

"Lack of monitoring of infected individuals and their household or other close contacts for symptoms resulting in an increased risk of spread of COVID-19 within the community, or other unintended adverse events," the FDA wrote.

The agency said that health care providers should Consider retesting their patients using a different test if you suspect an inaccurate result was given recently by the Curative SARS-Cov-2 test.

The FDA also said if testing was performed more than two weeks ago, and there is no reason to suspect a current SARS-CoV-2 infection, it is not necessary to retest.

Curative was selected to replace the screening that was being performed by the Texas Military Department. Both have performed a significant number of tests in Kerr County. It is unknown how many false negatives have been returned.

The test is performed by collecting a throat swab, nasopharyngeal swab, nasal swab, or oral fluid specimen from an individual suspected of COVID-19 by their health care provider.

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