A maze of twisty little test instructions, all different

[jducoeur]

Okay, I'm curious: does it drive anyone else nuts that each form of covid antigen test works differently? They all have the same components -- nasal swab, liquid, and test strip -- but each one's instructions operate in a different order, and it makes me a little nuts trying to remember how to use one or the other.

(This message brought to you by me trying out the BinaxNOW test for the first time today, and going "Wait -- I put the liquid on the card before I swab my nose?")

Comments

[lauradi7dw]

The Binax is our favorite. When the nearby Walgreens was out of them, I bought a couple of the BD Veritor ones. Downloading an app and registering are required. Even worse, if you can't get your phone to scan the thing within five minutes, it won't tell you the results. Phooey.

[squirrelitude]

Ugh! I have... lots of feelings about lateral flow tests that require a smartphone to work. I hadn't heard of one that requires you to register, though! *That* practice should simply be outlawed.

(Some actually turn out not to require a phone app despite implying it on the box, but strongly encourage you to use the phone to read the strip, which is... weird?)

[lauradi7dw]

I think the point is that if you're positive, it gets reported? Or something? I couldn't get it to scan, so I called the help line in outrage. The guy said that a positive test will show up to 5 lines and I only had two, so it was probably negative, although he was unwilling to commit. He offered to send me a free box. No thank you. I gave away the others I had.