When the coronavirus pandemic first took hold, trying to get a COVID test was like trying to get Glastonbury tickets. Hard to come by is an understatement. But now, well over a year on, a key part of ...

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and rapid (antigen) tests for COVID-19 both involve taking a swab. Results for a PCR test take longer, as it needs to go to a laboratory. It is more costly but tends to ...

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were the first available for spotting the coronavirus. They work by detecting the virus’s genetic material, and are very accurate. Then came rapid tests, also ...

Scientists and public health experts built the COVID-19 pandemic response on years of experience navigating infectious disease outbreaks. Although lateral flow immunoassays have been central to ...

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 ...

In a recent review published in Nature Reviews Bioengineering, researchers assessed the changing landscape of lateral flow tests (LFTs), and the development of next-generation LFTs based on lessons ...

Jan 10 (Reuters) - The fast-spreading Omicron variant has made us more reliant on rapid at-home antigen tests to tell us if we have COVID-19. But should we be swabbing our throats as well as our noses ...

During the early stages of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), rapid testing was imperative for public health policymakers and health care workers in order to determine where and what measures ...

When should you do a lateral flow test and when to take a PCR? As Coronavirus numbers rise in Scotland, you might want to make sure you aren't positive and at risk of passing it on to your loved ones, ...

Andrew Lee has previously received research funding from the National Institute for Health Research. He is a member of the UK Faculty of Public Health and the Royal Society for Public Health. Just as ...