Max Minute: What Tests Are Being Used To Detect The Coronavirus?
By Dr. Max Gomez
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – There are many questions about coronavirus testing, including which tests are being used and how do they work.
Testing has been a controversial part of the coronavirus pandemic from the very beginning.
Some of the early tests were faulty. Are there enough tests? How do you get tested and where? And now there's talk of another test, one that can tell if it's safe to go back to work?
Confusing, no?
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Here's what the two types of tests actually look for and what they mean.
The first test everyone heard about – the one that required an unpleasant throat and nasal swab and sometimes took days to get results – that test looked for the virus's genetic material.
If it found that, it essentially indicates that you have an active, ongoing infection, even if you don't have symptoms. You could be one of those asymptomatic spreaders of the coronavirus.
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The newer test looks in blood from a finger stick for antibodies against the virus. It's the same technology that's used to determine HIV infection. Depending on which type of antibody the test looks for, it can tell if you have an ongoing infection or an infection that's resolved, and that's key.
If you had the infection and recovered, then you are likely immune to re-infection by the coronavirus and could be safe to return to work.
The only qualifier to the antibody test is that it takes about a month to develop these antibodies, so it's not useful to tell if you've been exposed or infected but are still in that month-long period before you make enough antibodies for the test to detect.
Both types of tests will detect the various strains of corona that have been isolated.
For the top questions people have been asking about the coronavirus, visit cbsnewyork.com/max, and go to facebook.com/cbsnewyork to submit your question.
