Chances of a false negative / positive

[OpheliasCrayon]

If someone has had one negative and one positive LFT, has anyone any idea which one of them is more likely to be the false one? I fear the answer will be the negative will be a false negative. Awaiting the PCR test but just wondering if there were any stats on this?

[bookworm1632]

The chance of a false positive is 1 in 8500 according to figures released today.
The chance of a false negative is about 6 in 10.

This is why if there is ANY reason to suspect an infection, LF tests should not be used - they are ONLY there to weed out infected people who would otherwise not be tested.

[MRex]

I hope you're ok. The positive one is more likely to be correct, but a small chance it's negative. PCR results come back pretty quickly these days, so you shouldn't be waiting long.

[MereDintofPandiculation]

@bookworm1632

The chance of a false positive is 1 in 8500 according to figures released today.
The chance of a false negative is about 6 in 10.

This is why if there is ANY reason to suspect an infection, LF tests should not be used - they are ONLY there to weed out infected people who would otherwise not be tested.

Can you give a source for that?

[Tealightsandd]

Last I heard it was about 30-50% chance of a false negative.

I hope you're ok.

[OpheliasCrayon]

Thanks . Seems we won't know until the PCR is back then!
It's not us, though thanks for the concern! It's a staff member at DD2s setting. Was trying to work out the chances of her being in nursery or not next week!

[OpheliasCrayon]

Sorry that sounded like I didn't care about the staff member with the positive test - its one of the cases with no symptoms potentially picked up on a routine LFT, so they're fine!

[Tealightsandd]

Fingers crossed for you it's a negative.

[OpheliasCrayon]

@Tealightsandd

Fingers crossed for you it's a negative.

I fear it won't be though!