Current Event 1 Assignment
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/covid-variant-surge-testing-accuracy-rcna1336
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This article I found is about the new Covid variant and testing for it. This new Covid
variant is the JN.1 variant and is spreading very quickly right now. With this new variant,
hospitalizations and deaths have increased across the US.
The article states that even if you are someone who is low-risk for Covid, it is still
important to test. It’s important to know whether you have Covid, a cold, or the Flu in case
you have lingering symptoms and in order to know when to properly isolate yourself from
others. Experts said that with this variant, your at-home testing should be accurate. They state
that the best time to test would be a few days into the illness. Experts found that the level of
the virus peaks around the fourth day of symptoms. If you test too early, the test may show up
negative and not give you accurate results. The CDC recommends testing if you are
experiencing symptoms such as congestion, cough or body aches or if you have been
exposed. If you are concerned whether or not you are contagious, at-home rapid testing is a
good way to know whether you are contagious.
I enjoyed reading this article. It was informative and very helpful in learning about
this new variant. Personally, I didn’t even know that there was a new variant. I have taken
at-home Covid tests in the past, but I was worried about the accuracy. This article helped ease
my nerves and told me that experts believe that these at-home test kits are accurate as long as
they are done correctly. I also was not very sure about when you should test for Covid. I
found it helpful that they listed symptoms such as congestion, cough and body aches, to help
people who are unsure like myself know when they should be testing. Letting people know
the correct window of timing to test is also very beneficial. If people know that testing too
early, it is likely to be inaccurate, may help the rate of spread.