Covid-19 Rapid Antigen Tests

Throughout 2020 and into 2021, scientists, researchers and governments have been working towards providing solutions that detect and protect us from coronavirus; some proving to be more successful than others. Sharp Hygiene are happy to be able to offer an ever-increasing product range that allows businesses to operate effectively, but more importantly, safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the more recent additions to this range of COVID-19 products is the Romed Holland Hygiene Rapid Antigen Testing Kits.

“Could antigen testing be the way out of lockdown?”

Specificity vs Sensitivity

When testing for COVID-19, we want to be able to rely on the results given to us. Different terms such as true positive and false negative are used when measuring how accurate the test results are. Unfortunately, it isn’t always as simple as positive or negative.

Here is an explanation of the difference between a test’s specificity and sensitivity:

• Test sensitivity indicates the ability of the test to correctly identify patients that do have the disease. A test’s sensitivity is also known as the true positive rate. If a diagnostic test correctly identified 100% of all positive results, it would be as sensitive as possible.
• Test specificity indicates the ability of the test to correctly identify patients that do not have the disease. If a test correctly identifies all people without the disease as negative, it would be as specific as possible.

Therefore, regular and continued testing using Rapid Antigen Tests is an ever increasingly popular way to fight the rate of infection. If a test taken does in fact produce a false positive result, the possibility of two test doing the same is far less likely.

The Sharp Hygiene COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Test provided by Romed, have the following result accuracies:

• Sensitivity 96%
• Specificity 99%

PCR Testing vs Rapid Antigen Testing

Although there is no current COVID-19 test that is 100% accurate, making evaluation is challenging, the PCR test has been given the ‘gold standard’, as it provides high sensitivity results. The worry is that there is a risk of false negative results, where a person is pre-infectious, and could infect others in coming days. The PCR test is also, slow and expensive, meaning continued and regular testing on a widespread scale is not feasible.

The Rapid Antigen Test allows testing to be done cheaply and quickly, however offers slightly less sensitivity than PCR testing. The way antigen testing works, is to detect protein that is created by the virus, that correlates with infectiousness. An antigen test will deliver accurate results when a person is at the peak of infectiousness. The cycle of coronavirus infectiousness starts low, increases to its highest point and then falls before the virus leaves your body. This means continued and regular antigen testing is particularly important in achieving the best results and identifying someone who has COVID-19. The Rapid Antigen Testing provides quick results and is a fraction of the price of a PCR test. Due to these factors, it is a great method of large scale, nationwide testing.

Supporters of widespread antigen testing believe the way out of lockdown “is in part through mass antigen testing, so infections can be quickly detected.”

“In an ideal world, you could test yourself every morning, and head off to school or work, or even a concert, on the back of a negative result.”

Benefits of your business using antigen tests

By implementing regular COVID-19 testing into your business’ health and safety measures, you can continue to operate is a safe, covid-secure manner. See the below benefits Rapid Antigen Testing can have on your business:

• Stock can be kept on site / distributed to staff if needed
• Self-testing
• Easy to use
• Results in 15 minutes
• Can prevent business closure
• Employees feel safe at work

Sharp Hygiene

Sharp Hygiene can now offer businesses of all sizes access to Rapid Antigen Testing kits, providing results with high sensitivity and specificity. These are designed to be easy to use and can be stored safely at room temperature at your property. Ensure you and your staff are kept safe against COVID-19 by testing on a regular basis. Along with testing kits, Sharp Hygiene offer a range of other coronavirus related products, such as hand sanitisers, hygiene stations, masks and temperature scanners.

Find out more about Sharp Hygiene products.