Wanted to share my experience this evening taking my kids to get the rapid test. We have several family members who have both tested positive and have had some symptoms (nothing major). We're trying to juggle how to have the kids return to school next week. Okay....
Nurse comes in to take nose swab test. They take two per kid. Rapid & PCR. If Rapid comes back negative, the send the second sample for PCR results. But if it comes back positive, they do not. I found this very interesting, so I ask the nurse (who had a smoker's voice....)
Me: So, it comes back negative, it gets sent away, but positive it doesn't?
Nurse: correct
Me: why is that? What if it's a false positive? Why doesn't the sample get retested?
Nurse: }blank stare{
Me: it gets retested if it's negative...just curious why the opposite doesn't happen....
Nurse: }continued blank stare, nearly stammering{
Nurse: Well, just because. They retest. (she says this frustrated at me, and stammering....exasperated at me that I have the audacity to ask such a question)
Me: (sensing her annoyance...) Okay, I mean I'm just curious.
She walks out, I give her a double bird...kids got a kick out of that. I've never done that before in front of them.......
They both tested negative, which "is 80% accurate" according to the PA who came in 10 minutes later to give us the results (different lady than the puzzled nurse above). PA says: "now, technically, they need to continue to be quarantined until the results of the PCR come back negative, should be ~3 days". If we didn't have our masks on, I wonder though, if I would have been able to sense a wink wink around her comment. I just sensed that she knew.
Lastly, I posted above how it's confusing...knowing when it's okay to do XYZ if you get exposed, etc. This is why people are confused. Check the picture out that was in the examination room....(hope it uploaded). People don't know what the hell to do, and when they are intentionally mislead, well, there you go.
I'm going to get tested tomorrow, and I'm going to assume it's going to come back negative. Then, I can justify getting to train tomorrow...negative AND asymptomatic.