Here are some types of test people take in order to see if they are or have been infected with Covid-19.

 

 

Two of these tests, the anitgen and molecular, involve an unpleasant nasal swab where they take a device that is similar to a cue tip and push it deep into your nose or throat and extract cells from your body to see if they have the coronavirus. They are most accurate within the first 7 day of infection after the start of symptoms. These tests find out if you CURRENTLY have COVID-19. 

 

The molecular test can have same day results  or in some cases up to a week depending on the the number of test a clinic performs, but this test is extremely accurate.

The antigen can have results within an hour or less, but is not as accurate.

 

If you test positive in either of these test you should immediately quarantine yourself for 14 days. Notify anyone you had come into contact with from the previous 48 hours of when you first noticed symptoms or tested positive and call your local physician.

 

The antibody test is used to see if you HAD the virus in the past. This means your body has developed white blood cells that combat the virus and the virus is slowly dying off. They draw your blood in order to perform this test. Results can be same day or up to 3 days depending on the workload of the clinic.

 

This test is most accurate 7-10 after the start of symptoms.