Two types of COVID-19 tests, the rapid antigen test and the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test, are available in the United States. The PCR typically relies on lab testing and is still considered ...

Rapid COVID tests are convenient and easy to use because you can take them at home. But it's important to know how to interpret their results, when you should take another rapid test and when you ...

Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. A medical worker performs a COVID-19 test at a screening center in Saint-Denis, France, on Nov. 4, 2020. Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. If you had COVID-19 ...

At the start of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic people who felt unwell had to join long queues for lab-based PCR tests and then wait for two days to learn if they were infected with the COVID-19 virus or not.

PCR processes are the diagnostic gold standard when it comes to identifying coronavirus infections. Unlike rapid antigen tests, they function even in the case of a low viral load and detect the ...