Due to spread of coronavirus within the community, you and your family may like to be tested also for safety reasons. In case, a person is sick within your vicinity then you must go for testing. Taking advice from the doctors, you can decide whether a coronavirus is going to be helpful for you or not.

Types of Coronavirus Testing

There are mainly two types of testing available. One of them help to determine about current infection and another one is for past infections.

Testing for Current Infection

In order to know whether a person is infected with the coronavirus or not, healthcare service provider examines the sample of mucus or saliva of a person to find virus pieces. In this way, it becomes possible to know about the virus infection on the same day.
• Using long swab, sample is collected from nose, throat, gum, cheeks and tongue.
• Container can be given to collect cough or spit also.
Coming to a doctor’s office, tests can be done. Special testing sites have been created in several countries also. In some occasion, drive-in test in centers can be seen as well. Staying inside the car, it is possible to get tested. Following the instruction of healthcare service provider, people can take out the swab with the help of a Q-tip. Special kits are available now to take the test within home.

Post testing, test result can be obtained within a day or a week depending on the location of the test. In case the sample is taken to a lab then more time is generally taken to get the results. In case of a home kit, it is always delivered to the labs. If there are lots of cases of coronavirus within the community then various tests have to be done at the same time. As a result, more time is needed for results also.
If the result is positive then the person is affected with coronavirus. However, negative result suggests that virus is not present within the body. In some occasion, test result can come negative in spite of having coronavirus. Therefore, second test may be suggested.
Test results may come inaccurate in case the test is early or late during infection. More accurate test results may be seen after few days of carrying the virus.
During the testing, instruction must be followed. In case of a kid, parents must help them to stay still while testing for a good sample. Better sample leads to an accurate result.

Testing for Past Infection

If a person has contacted with coronavirus in the past then it can be detected also. On the occasion, healthcare service provider may search for antibodies within the samples. These antibodies are generally created after a person is infected by the virus. Following 2-3 weeks after the infection, antibodies can be found within the body. However, it may not able to determine whether a person is still affected.
Blood test is done to check the antibodies. Test results may be available in a day or few days. However, home kit is not available for theses test yet.