COVID-19 tests can be conducted in commercial, private and academic laboratories, as well as county and state health labs and are available for at-home use. UC Davis Health has greatly expanded our on-site testing capabilities as we have developed and tested our own בדיקות קורונה PCR.

A molecular PCR test is considered to be the most exact COVID-19 test. It involves inserting a swab measuring 6 inches (like an extended Q-tip) in the space between the nose and mouth (nasopharyngeal Swab) for around 15 seconds. Then , it is rotated repeatedly. To ensure that enough material is collected, the swabbing process is repeated on the other face of the nose. The swab is then stored in a container before being taken to the lab to be tested.

Here's more information from UC Davis Health about מעבדות קורונה types, who should be tested and why testing is so important to prevent its spread.

Do I have to get tested for COVID-19?

You can get the best advice from your doctor about whether you should undergo a test for COVID-19. If you have ever had contact with the virus or experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, it is suggested to test.

Health experts caution that בדיקות קורונה PCR can only reveal what your staus is for this exact moment in time. You could be exposed to the virus just a few hours prior to testing, but you haven't yet reached the threshold that COVID-19 is able to detect.

A new rapid expert consultation of a standing committee of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine explores four topics that concern the use and interpretation of coronavirus diagnostic tests. The topics include the benefits and limitations of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing as well as the current status of point of care tests; strategies and considerations regarding certain kinds and sequences of tests; and next-generation sequencing (NGS) testing. This consultation does not cover tests for antibodies.

Although vaccines will soon be more widely accessible, diagnostic tests remains crucial to aid in COVID-19 treatment surveillance of the disease, contact tracing efforts and plans to reopen the economy and schools. An average of 30 million tests must be conducted each week to determine the health of people and their contacts. Screening asymptomatic patients may require as high as 14 million test daily according to the speedy expert consultation.

At present, tests using RT-PCR that are performed in central labs are considered to be as the best method to determine the presence of an infectious virus. However, this could change as evidence mounts regarding antigen-based diagnostic tests as well as on other tests that are highly sensitive methods.

The rapid expert consultation says that there is a trade-off in RT-PCR tests versus rapid point-of care (POC) tests. These tests are utilized commonly to screen asymptomatic patients. The sensitivity and specificity of the tests may be lower. The tests must be repeated several times per week to allow individuals to recognize and isolate cases quickly. This will help reduce the frequency of certain ailments like those found on campuses of colleges. The consultation of experts on the rapid process notes that at this time there are no systems and compliance measures in place for reporting swift POC test results to public health authorities particularly when the tests are conducted by employers or universities. Therefore, the numbers and locations of people who are infected are not recorded, and infection transmission may remain unchecked.

The expert consultation is also rapid and identifies situations in which split-pool testing (testing pools of samples and then splitting the pool again and testing it again) as well as wastewater surveillance (a method of testing water containing human waste to determine symptomatic and unsymptomatic people) can provide advantages beyond the individual diagnostic tests. Furthermore, it investigates the potential of NGS which can provide an extremely sensitive and precise test. Some companies may be able to analyze 10,000 samples at a time with a turnaround time of 24 to 48 hours. However, it isn't clear the extent to which NGS tests will have the same processing, transport and reporting issues as RT-PCR tests.

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