IF A GRANDSON, WHO WANTS TO VISIT GRANNY AND WHO IS USING MY NEGATIVE TEST RESULT AS CONFIRMATION OF COVID-19 STATUS, TURNED OUT TO BE INFECTED AND GRANNY DIED, I WOULD BE RUINED
not become infected again or spread the virus. I supported this precautionary approach and stood down my business plan but then started looking at antigen testing.
The gold standard test to confirm infection with SARS-CoV-2 is the Reverse Transferase (RT) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) which uses an enzyme to multiply the small amount of RNA from the SARS Cov2 viruses.
The amount of virus obtained from a swab, even one taken by a trained healthcare professional, is minute and the RT PCR cycle might need to be run 20-30 times to get enough virus (amplify) to register a positive result.
Cheaper antigen tests detect viral material and wee available as a Point-of-Care test but didn’t amplify, so even where there was a high viral load, a case could be missed.
They did, however, detect proteins of the virus and had a lateral flow design looking and operated much like a pregnancy test. They
were cheap, easy to use and gave a result in fifteen minutes. I wondered if I should I be using them commercially?
Accuracy was a concern. A True-Positive result i s where the test is positive and the patient has the infection and a True-Negative is where the patient does not have the disease and the test is negative.
The test must be ‘specific’ for SARS Cov2 virus as it may pick up other coronaviruses that have similar RNA and give a False-Positive result, ie, where the patient has a positive result but does not have the infection.
Testing an individual too early or too late in the infection may not harvest sufficient virus, or the skills of those performing the test may not be sufficient to collect proper swab samples.
The RT PCR test is preferred as it has a very high sensitivity and specificity above 98 per cent. Boots offered a RT PCR test commercially in its main stores, with a 48-hour turn around.
So, in late November, I bought lateral flow antigen tests and advertised. Very soon, I had 17 travellers to the Canaries booked in for Saturday 19 December - only to find them all cancel when the UK required returning visitors from the Canaries to quarantine for fourteen days.
Two weeks later, I had ten appointments from people who had been topping up their Vitamin D levels in the Canaries when the Government quarantine rules changed and wanted to get tested, hoping for a negative result that would allow them to return to work.
I had to point out that, irrespective of the test result, they could not avoid quarantine restrictions. None turned up.
As I await to see if I will be employed as a vaccinator, I have abandoned my commercial testing service. I discovered my professional liability insurance did not provide COVID-19 antigen testing cover.
If a loving and dutiful grandson, who wants to visit Granny and who is using my negative test result as confirmation of COVID-19 status, turned out to be infected and Granny died, I would be ruined. Some business isn’t worth chasing.
THE AMOUNT OF VIRUS OBTAINED FROM A SWAB, EVEN ONE TAKEN BY A TRAINED HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL, IS MINUTE AND THE RT PCR CYCLE MIGHT NEED TO BE RUN 20-30 TIMES TO GET ENOUGH VIRUS (AMPLIFY) TO REGISTER A POSITIVE RESULT
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