COVID-19 tests are far from perfect, but accuracy isn’t the biggest problem
Staff and military personnel at a Florida nursing home secure COVID-19 test samples. (Pfc. Orion Oettel/U.S. Army/)Maureen Ferran is an associate professor of biology at Rochester Institute of Technology. This story originally featured on The Conversation.Widespread testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus is important to both slow the virus and gain information about how widespread it is in the US. But a second aspect of testing has gotten less attention: accuracy.It’s surprisingly hard to determine how accurate a coronavirus test is, identify the cause of any inaccuracies and understand how inaccuracies affect the data public health officials use to make decisions.There are two main types of test in use. The first is a reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test, or RT-PCR. This is the most common diagnostic test used to identify people currently infected with SARS-CoV-2. It works by detecting viral RNA in a person’s cells—most often collected from their nose.The second...