Do you need to test for Covid Variants? Things to know
While immunizations have been a significant step forward in the fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, new COVID variants have introduced new complexities to an already complex situation. The Delta strain is currently the most prevalent variety, and it has been demonstrated to be more infectious than the original COVID-19 strain. While there are multiple known coronavirus variants, the Delta strain is responsible for most COVID-19 breakthrough cases.
Testing is one of the most crucial instruments in the current epidemic. COVID testing enables accurate diagnosis and gives important data to the medical community, which can subsequently be used to develop specific strategies to safeguard public health and avoid diseases. Testing methods have changed in recent months to become more easy and reliable, whether you perform standard testing at a clinic or utilize an at-home sample collection test. Continue reading to discover more about COVID variant testing.
Is a COVID test for variants available?
Simply put, no, there are no publicly available tests that can tell you if you're infected with a certain variety. Much of this is because it doesn't matter whether you tested positive for the original strain or Delta individually. Even though several varieties are circulating, the health advice is the same for everyone. Even if you test positive for Delta, the instructions remain the same (keep isolated, monitor your symptoms, and visit your doctor if symptoms worsen). At the same time, we can't predict what will happen with future mutations; all known variants are now causing illness to have similar symptoms.
Things are a little different when it comes to the health community and research. Delta and other variants are necessary to epidemiologists and health specialists, and genomic sequencing methods can help. Home collection RT pcr test kit can assist evaluate the risk level of a community and the possible spread of a novel variety, leading to measures for safeguarding communities and managing dangers.
What methods are used to identify variants?
The public testing method is the same for variants for the initial strain, and testing may be done with molecular or fast antigen tests. Molecular testing is fairly reliable and indicates current infections. The sole disadvantage is that they take longer to process in comparison to quick antigen testing. In a few days to a week, you should receive your findings, which will inform you if you are positive or negative for SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Following a COVID-19 test with home collection for RT pcr test, laboratories need further testing and screening to identify whether a particular variant caused the infection. This requires more advanced genome sequencing from laboratories at the state, federal, and private levels and is not included in the public testing procedure.
Covid tests with RT pcr home test kit are beneficial for diagnostic reasons, and they have the added benefit of providing rapid findings that may be obtained within minutes of submission. On the other hand, these tests are less valuable for researchers hunting for probable variants.
