Antigen testing results are not yet included in the total number of Covid-19 cases for some states – not even as probable cases, as recommended by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Five states – California, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri and Nevada – only publicly report confirmed cases of PCR tests in their online accounts, according to a CNN analysis of health department dashboards in all 50 states.
Some states only report the results of polymerase chain reactions in their Covid-19 case numbers and exclude the results of antigen tests because antigen tests are generally considered less accurate. But as antigen testing increases in the United States, this exclusion could lead to potential miscalculations.
“Antigen tests are relatively inexpensive, and most can be used at the point of care. Most currently authorized tests return results in about 15 minutes,” according to the US Food and Drug Administration, but also notes that it is generally less sensitive than others. types of tests.
In California, for example, CNN was told that the results of Covid-19 antigen tests should be reported to local health departments and the California Department of Public Health. But publicly reported Covid-19 test data only reflect the results of diagnostic tests that detect coronavirus genetic material, such as PCR tests – the polymerase chain reaction.
CNN requested antigen testing data from the state’s public health department, but was told in an email that “the results of the antigen tests are not publicly reported at the state level at this time.”
In all four remaining states, the data they each shared with CNN represents approximately 10,000 positive Covid-19 antigen test results reported in just a small sample of days in January.
If included in the number of reported cases, the results of positive antigen tests would increase the Covid-19 cases reported by those states between 5% and 50% at that time, according to CNN analysis.
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