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Whole family got it....had rapid antigen tests to confirm so we could be smart about our contacts and timing, but never took a test that would have put us officially on the radar. Took an antibody test after the fact just to have proof that might help my future exemption case with my employer. Binax Now test are $14 for 2 at Walmart.com

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interestingly enough...not available in canada. it's almost impossible to get an antibody test here as a dr. need sign off on the requisition (test costs $75), and dr's are actively discouraged from doing so by cdc. hm. odd, that.

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Not surprised by that. The other day I googled where to get a vitamin D test to check the level of D and up came Health Canada website saying those tests are not necessary lol.

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From the same people who say cycle threshold 45 on a PCR test is valid, there are no early treatments and natural immunity doesn't count. Riiiggght.

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How do those home tests work? What if you do stick the swab in your ear or a water bottle instead of your nose and then conduct the test? Is it going to give you a "negative" or does the test somehow detect nasal mucous to know that you did it correctly?

Asking for a friend. I would never try to trick my employer. :)

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Home tests are very simple.....swab. They aren't accepted generally for work/travel if self administered even though I believe they are identical to the rapid antigen tests used in testing centers. They're more for your own information so you know whether it's Covid or something else, and adjust your blast radius accordingly. They have negligible false positives, more false negatives as they are less sensitive than PCR, so if you test positive you can be pretty sure you've got it. The nice thing is you can know if you have Covid without putting yourself on the local health authority radar and having all the contact tracing BS. To be honest I've had colds and other viruses that were worse than my bout of Covid so the test was useful to confirm.....I was expecting to be a lot sicker. I did lose taste and smell so that was really the only marker other than the antigen test that it was something more sinister than a cold. Full disclosure, we did have a self treatment protocol that included supplements and and anti-parasitic that we aren't allowed to talk about so that may have helped bend the curve of severity in our favor.

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I use Binax test to avoid wasting my supply of Ivm (took me 3+ weeks to arrive from Singapore!). ;-)

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And again... having to show proof of health to work is tyrannical as hell. I guess I can see it if a business really thinks that's in their best interest and they decide that *without* government "mandates". I'm totally free market. As for me though.... I'd rather go shovel someone's sidewalk for 10$ and eat a top ramen.

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Those tests are not acceptable for work or in lieu of a PCR.

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My workplace accepts them. (I haven't tried one out yet because 99% of the time I'm allowed to work from home. But still I'm still curious how they work for that 1% of the time that I may need one.)

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simple: swab both nostrils - NOT DEEP - then place inside a card where you put 6 drops of some fluid prior. Then close card. Wait 15-30 mins. If a second line appears, you're positive. All at home. NO ONE but you will know the results.

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positive for a

fragment of RNA

which may or may not be remnant of SCoV2

no symptoms no replication no illness no transmission

inhaled virions or fragments stick to your mucosa

trying to enter cells

only when they enter replicate and kill the cell to escape

are they numerous enough and free to be transmitted

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For your employer...do a nasal rinse before and after. Those nasty swabs are saturated with a toxic chemical. For just your own knowledge, just do the nasal rinse after to clean the crud on the swab out of your nostril. ;)

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