Dr. Summers recommends PCR tests vs. rapid tests, as COVID-19 cases rise in Western residence
Quick and easy - that’s what usually comes to mind when people think of rapid testing.
According to Dr. Gerald Evans, an infectious disease specialist, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are good for diagnosing COVID-19 for individuals who are a high-risk contact or are experiencing symptoms. While the antigen rapid tests are often used for fast results, surveillance, and screening purposes.
Results for PCR tests typically come back anywhere between 24 hours to five days depending on a lab’s capacity, while rapid tests provide results within 15 minutes.
While the rapid tests may be helpful in some cases, Evans says they’re not always reliable.
“I can use it in a setting where it’s very unlikely that you have an infection, and if so, a negative test is reliable,” says Dr. Evans. “But once you start having symptoms, that rapid antigen test becomes a little bit less useful because a negative test might be falsely negative.”
Evans recommends people with symptoms book a PCR test, as a negative result from the laboratory will be able to determine that the patient has a different virus or has symptoms from another cause.A sign for the Merlin House residence at Fanshawe College in London, Ont. is seen Monday, Nov. 29, 2021. (Jim Knight / CTV News)“If you have a cough, a sore throat, and a runny nose and you do that rapid antigen test and it’s negative, that’s a problem because you might still have COVID. There’s probably still a 15 per cent chance that you do, so you might think I have a cold but it’s not COVID so I’m not going to worry about whom I’m coming into contact with.”
Western University provides rapid antigen tests for those with an exemption to their vaccination policy. On Saturday, Western University declared an outbreak at the Saugeen-Maitland Hall on campus.
Last week a student at the first-year residence who contracted COVID-19 used a rapid test to help determine their symptoms. According to London’s Acting Medical Officer of Health Dr. Alex Summers, as of Monday, there are eight cases linked to the outbreak at the Saugeen residence.
According to one of the university’s media representatives, all students on floors affected by the outbreak are being tested.
“I think the next few days will be critical for us to fully understand how many cases we will see,” said Summers during an interview with CTV News on Sunday.
As of Monday, Fanshawe College is also experiencing an outbreak including three people at the Merlin House residence.
For the most accurate results when it comes to testing for COVID-19, Summers recommends students and all members of the community visit a testing centre if they develop any related symptoms.
“Don’t just shrug it off as it’s a common cold, get tested and isolate and that’s what we want people to do.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Alice Munro, Nobel literature winner revered as short story master, dead at 92
Nobel laureate Alice Munro, the Canadian literary giant who became one of the world's most esteemed contemporary authors and one of history's most honoured short story writers, has died at age 92.
Latest updates on air quality alerts, and when the smoke may reach Ontario and Quebec
Wildfires have led Environment Canada to issue air quality advisories for parts of B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the Northwest Territories, as forecasters warn the smoke could drift farther east.
Are these Canada's best restaurants? Annual top 100 list revealed
The annual list of Canada's top restaurants in the country was just released and here are the places that made the 2024 cut.
Attack on prison van in France kills 2 officers, inmate escapes
Armed assailants killed two French prison officers and seriously wounded three others in an attack on a convoy in Normandy on Tuesday and an inmate escaped, officials said.
Steal a car, lose your driver's licence for 10 years under new Ontario proposal
Repeat car thieves may face lengthy licence bans under proposed changes to Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act.
$1.6B parts plant for Honda electric vehicle batteries coming to Niagara Region
A Japanese company has announced it will build an approximately $1.6-billion plant in Ontario's Niagara Region that will make a key electric vehicle battery component as part of Honda's supply chain in the province.
B.C. brings in law on name changes on day that child killer's new identity revealed
The BC NDP have tabled legislation aimed at stopping people who have committed certain heinous acts from changing their names.
Manitoba premier to visit areas impacted by wildfire
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew will get a close-up look at the devastation from a large wildfire burning in northern Manitoba Tuesday.
1 killed, 3 injured including toddler, after Hwy. 417 crash in Ottawa
Ontario Provincial Police are responding to a fatal collision involving two vehicles on Highway 417 in Ottawa's west end on Tuesday morning.