2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

Forums › Health and fitness › 2019 Novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Discussion

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#2875612 27-Feb-2022 08:53

I see that Retail is allowed to sell RAT tests to the public as of now. It's listed as such here on the Ministry of health website.

Choice Cheapies is recommending Chemist Warehouse 5pk for $45 including Shipping.
Must order separately and with nothing else - they are making shipping fast and easy for themselves.
They are advertising shipping within 48 hours.
It's this particular NZ approved test according to Choice Cheapies - Healgen Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test and Orient Gene Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test

But there will be other suppliers in the week's ahead I'm sure (Bargain Chemist is advertising RAT's currently as well),
and remember free kits are available if you have symptoms and seek help from a testing center/doctor.

Eva888

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#2875617 27-Feb-2022 09:24

Wonder why our RAT tests are up the nose ones and many I’ve seen overseas are spittle. Far prefer spittle.

hairy1

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#2875627 27-Feb-2022 09:50

We used both on our son on Thursday (don't ask where the saliva one came from) and had a very very weak positive from the saliva. The nasal came back strong positive.

Haven't done any research on which is better but nasal was quite different...

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duckDecoy

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#2875696 27-Feb-2022 11:54

My 10yo son tested positive this Sunday morning. I am still hearing that some people with positive RATS are getting PCR tests, but the text back from the ministry after we advised them of the result was that he won't. What is the criteria or purpose now for getting PCR tests?

Selfishly I would really like to know if he has omicron or delta, because if its omicron I could open up his life somewhat given how careful and cautious we have been, he's been really restricted by me over the last few years due to paranoia (I have an underlying condition). But I cannot expect extra work to be added into the PCR system just to suit me.

Anecdotal data: he is quite unwell, not a "mild cold". High fever and fever dreams, chills, lots of vomiting (which isn't helping with the pain relief side of things). He'll ride it out, but boy I am not looking forward to this if it ends up hitting me in a similar fashion.

hairy1

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#2875718 27-Feb-2022 13:01

Our 10 year old has a fever which was pretty high with crazy dreams on nights 1 and 2. No vomiting since day 1 (now day 4) but the fever just comes and goes. Talking to a relative who has it (different part of the country) says it took 5 days after household member 0 was symptomatic for them to show symptoms. The rest of the house just tested negative on our day 3 tests

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DS248

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#2875723 27-Feb-2022 13:23

FWIW a few references, most alas of pre-Omicron vintage. Recent pooled sensitivity data from seven studies suggests that sensitivity of some RAT tests is significantly lower for Omicron (at least for nasal swabbing), though that result appears to be dependant on the brand of test (best results were for ‘Flowflex’, with ~90% sensitivity).

Some results suggest oral sampling is better for Omicron, and detects Omicron infection earlier in the infection cycle than nasal sampling, so it may depend on timing. Others recommend combined saliva-nasal sampling as best.

Earlier research indicated that for Delta (or pre-Delta?) there appeared to be little difference between nasal vs saliva sampling.

Details of the oral sampling can be important; eg. don’t eat or drink (or smoke!) for ~30 mins before sampling. Also coughing several times before oral sampling. Having not seen any of the tests, I am not certain if these are included in instructions that come with the tests?

https://covid19-sciencetable.ca/sciencebrief/use-of-rapid-antigen-tests-during-the-omicron-wave/ (Feb 2022 – nasal swabbing RATs): RATs significantly less sensitive for Omicron, at least with nasal swabbing.

“The pooled sensitivity of rapid antigen tests for the detection of Delta infections is 81.0%. Conversely, the pooled sensitivity for the detection of Omicron infections is only 37.1%. The ability of rapid antigen tests to detect a SARS-CoV-2 infection may depend on patient characteristics such as age and immune status, which were not accounted for in these analyses.” [NB: this finding was for pooled results and does not seem to apply for all test brands]

https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/96545 (Jan 2022):
"Two preprint studies, not yet peer reviewed and done with small sample sizes, made a preliminary case for testing with saliva by swabbing the mouth or back of the throat"
"Notably, viral load in the saliva peaked in a subset of five patients in the first 1-2 days -- before the nasal rapid antigen tests even showed a positive test"
"For the saliva test, patients coughed three to five times, swabbed the inside of their cheeks, above and below the tongue, and on the gums and hard palate"

Pre-Omicron

https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jcm.01785-21 (4 Feb 2001, but data only to Jun 21):

“Among unvaccinated persons, testing saliva with a high-analytical-sensitivity assay detected infection up to 4.5 days before viral loads in nasal swabs reached concentrations detectable by low-analytical-sensitivity nasal-swab tests. For most participants, nasal swabs reached higher peak viral loads than saliva but were undetectable or at lower loads during the first few days of infection. High-analytical-sensitivity saliva testing was most reliable for earliest detection.”

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-82787-z (4 Feb 2001):

"Saliva is more sensitive than nasopharyngeal or nasal swabs for diagnosis of asymptomatic and mild COVID-19 infection"

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2775397 (15 Jan 2021):

“In this systematic review and latent class meta-analysis adjusting for the imperfect reference standard, saliva NAAT had a similar sensitivity and specificity to that of nasopharyngeal NAAT”

“In the primary analysis, the saliva NAAT pooled sensitivity was 83.2% (..) and the pooled specificity was 99.2% (..). The nasopharyngeal swab NAAT had a sensitivity of 84.8% (..) and a specificity of 98.9% (..). Results were similar in secondary analyses”

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#2875724 27-Feb-2022 13:35

DS248:

Details of the oral sampling can be important; eg. don’t eat or drink (or smoke!) for ~30 mins before sampling. Also coughing several times before oral sampling. Having not seen any of the tests, I am not certain if these are included in instructions that come with the tests?

i believe this is the instructions given out for the saliva surveillance testing boarder workers etc are given

richms

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#2875725 27-Feb-2022 13:38

Stu:

Why do you say Bluetooth isn't working? Daughter had a 'close contact' notification last week from it. Would have been helpful if there were details included of where the contact was, but notifications are going out.

Without that info of where and when it is useless.

I know someone who had an alert on their phone and they have not even left the house other than a drive to get tested so it would have been when parked up near someone else. Probably at the testing place in a car near them while queued. Not exactly a close contact that matters. Without proper data about the alleged contact its worse than useless.

Richard rich.ms

duckDecoy

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#2875726 27-Feb-2022 13:40

hairy1: The rest of the house just tested negative on our day 3 tests

Whats the reason behind getting day 3 tests? I assumed we would put off getting a test until either

- we get ill, or

- he gets better and the 10 days is over and we want to check that we haven't picked it up but are asymptomatic

Are we meant to be getting tested?

EDIT: I should have looked it up. I see the ministry wants us to get tested on day 3 and 10

Oblivian

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#2875728 27-Feb-2022 14:01

richms:
Without that info of where and when it is useless.

I know someone who had an alert on their phone and they have not even left the house other than a drive to get tested so it would have been when parked up near someone else. Probably at the testing place in a car near them while queued. Not exactly a close contact that matters. Without proper data about the alleged contact its worse than useless.

With 30k+ a day 'where' doesn't matter much anymore. As is the end of LoI.

The idea now, is monitor for symptoms. That's... Everyone. Especially if you get an alert. Unless you live in a household with someone positive. Where you need to isolate. There are no close contact's anymore. Only household. For every one else, It's watch for symptoms

Technofreak

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#2875880 27-Feb-2022 21:46

Heard of a situation today which if it is common will be skewing the recorded number of infections.

Unvaccinated person who is infected. As a result of being unvaccinated they have no My Covid record account so are unable to register their infection online and the MOH phone system is overloaded to the point that the family member trying to get the infection notified gave up. They haven't needed medical help and their Covid infection will never be counted.

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Oblivian

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#2875892 27-Feb-2022 22:07

Vaccination is not a requirement for the record/myhealth account. It is one front end.
Which is how we all signed up before even getting our first dose. It just won't show any. So that's not really an excuse.

Infact as time goes on, as the site suggests more and more info will be stored on it. Not just covid.

Send them to sign up.
https://identity.health.nz/

Once they have that, registering and filling in the form via the register test link is easy.

neb

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#2875898 27-Feb-2022 22:22

Oblivian: Send them to sign up.
https://identity.health.nz/

If they're unvaxxed by choice rather than for legitimate medical reasons, it's quite possible they'll be opposed to signing up for big-brother 5G Bill Gates new world order tracking...

Technofreak

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#2875901 27-Feb-2022 22:23

Oblivian: Vaccination is not a requirement for the record/myhealth account. It is one front end.
Which is how we all signed up before even getting our first dose. It just won't show any. So that's not really an excuse.

Infact as time goes on, as the site suggests more and more info will be stored on it. Not just covid.

Send them to sign up.
https://identity.health.nz/

Once they have that, registering and filling in the form via the register test link is easy.

Yes, understand vaccination isn't a requirement but I'd suggest that currently that's the only reason why people are currently registered.

I don't have the full details but I suspect the info supplied with the RAT test about recording the test result assumes they already have an account, which they don't and I'm guessing there's no information about creating one.

I get the impression they've tried, it was too hard, they gave up, and unfortunately I doubt they'd bother trying again with the info you've provided.

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Oblivian

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#2875903 27-Feb-2022 22:29

Yeah. So, so hard..

How to report your results
You can report the results of your RAT through My Covid Record or by calling the helpline.

Log in and report your results | mycovidrecord.health.nz(external link)
Call 0800 222 478 and press option 3.
How to use My Covid Record

My fault. It's not facebook click friendly therefore totally not worth it.

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