- Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Test — The most accurate of all, slow, detects antigens (i.e., shows if you currently have the virus).
If memory serves, there is some controversy with PCR tests. Specifically, it will also test positive if you've had C19 in the past, as the dead tissue and cells do linger around for some time - is what I'm hearing. Maybe the antibodies even trigger a positive PCR test. Fuck. I dunno.
Anal swabs all the way.
Most accurate.
Trust me.
The PCR test, whose inventor said it should not be used to detect a virus, just multiplies whatever you are trying to test for.
Essentially they go through cycles to multiply whatever is being tested. Too high of cycles and they pretty much come out positive almost every time. At 40 cycles they pretty much come back positive almost every time. The CDC was requiring PCR tests with 40 cycles up until Biden was inaugurated when it was lowered (and what do ya know, cases started going down).
"Tests with thresholds so high may detect not just live virus but also genetic fragments, leftovers from infection that pose no particular risk — akin to finding a hair in a room long after a person has left"
"Any test with a cycle threshold above 35 is too sensitive, agreed Juliet Morrison, a virologist at the University of California, Riverside. “I’m shocked that people would think that 40 could represent a positive,”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.htmlI will have to trust you on the anal swabs.
I've been able to avoid getting tested so far. I opted out of visiting my own cruise ship because Panama required that I get tested to go onboard. Screw those guys, I wasn't willing to add to their numbers.
