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The Community Action Agency in Houghton has rapid tests on hand to help detect COVID-19. The kits are free and usually take about 15 minutes to generate results. Each package contains two tests, meant to be taken 36 hours apart. Antigen tests are also being conducted at the Western Upper Peninsula Health Department at its Ontonagon, Hancock and Baraga locations.
Antigen tests are not as accurate as PCR swabs, but they do not require specialized lab equipment to process. They have the most difficulty detecting asymptomatic cases. PCR tests suffer from the opposite problem at times, in that they tend to generate false positives. They can be incredibly sensitive, depending on the number of cycles run. CDC Director Rochelle Walensky warned earlier this week that PCR tests can pick up trace amounts of virus from an infection that happened well in the past.
Rapid testing availability is becoming a priority for public officials.
