TAMPA, Fla. — On Thursday, Ohio's governor tested positive with a rapid test, then later in the day, tested negative.
So how accurate are those rapid tests?
We talked with Dr. Jill Roberts at USF. She's an infectious disease expert and says it it "highly unusual" that his test came back positive, when he was negative.
She says the second one he took was the PCR, which is almost always correct.
So should you be worried?
Roberts says no and really, nothing is 100 percent. She says we cannot run as many tests as we need to in Florida without rapid tests. So if this is so highly unusual, what happened in the governor of Ohio's case?
"Unfortunately, the reason for that could have been some errors in labeling, it could have been errors in collecting, the way a sample was collected, the way it was run on the machine could have caused a problem."
Roberts says these tests have a 15 percent lack of sensitivity.
What does that mean?
Well, she says 15 percent of the time it tells you it's negative, and really it's positive.
For comparison here: she says that's on par with strep tests we get. You know, when you go to the doctor and you have those results in about 5 minutes?
Bottom line, she says don't be discouraged. If you have symptoms, get tested and stay away from others.
- President Trump issues executive order banning 'transactions' with TikTok, WeChat owners
- Gov. DeWine tests negative for COVID-19 just hours after rapid test turned up positive
- Another 7,650 COVID-19 cases added to total in Florida
- NOAA says 'extremely active' hurricane season more likely, updates forecast
- New York Attorney General sues to dissolve the NRA
FREE 10 TAMPA BAY APP:
►Stay In the Know! Sign up now for the Brightside Blend Newsletter