Rapid Covid test same day result (the LFT test) - why for people without symptoms?

[Wherewouldyoumove]

Just curious about this. I googled it a little, but didn’t find the answer to that question - only that it’s really unreliable. Maybe that’s why?

The LFT is not as sensitive as the PCR so if you have symptoms you should get the PCR just in case of a false negative.

I believe it picks up asymptomatic cases, as well as a day or two before symptoms show when you're most infectious.

Here you go- from gov website

When a person has low levels of virus in their system, lateral flow tests are less sensitive than some of the other tests we use, such as PCR tests which we mainly use for people with symptoms.

When levels of virus are at their highest and people are most likely to pass on the disease, lateral flow tests can detectthe vast majority of cases.

PCR and lateral flow have different roles to play in controlling the virus, so it isn’t helpful to directly compare them in terms of how sensitive they are:

Lateral flow is useful for finding out if a person is infectious now, and able to transmit the virus to others. The level of sensitivity is high enough to detect the vast majority of these cases. Lateral flow testing is less likely to return a positive result outside the infectious window.

PCR is useful for confirming a suspected case of coronavirus, where the person is already self-isolating and is showing symptoms. Higher sensitivity of PCR means it can identify genetic material from COVID-19 even after the active infection has passed.

The different levels of sensitivity are therefore appropriate for the ways they are used.

It's for rapid testing of a large number of people to pick up people who are asymptotic and wouldn't otherwise get a positive test.

Not sure why google wasn't able to provide you with that answer?

So for example in a factory if they do an LFT on every employee e.g. twice a week they have a better chance of not having to shut down because of an outbreak if they pick up asymptotic people before they mix widely with other.

They are used widely in care and hospital settings to test large numbers of staff that are coming into contact with vulnerable people.

I assume j the future they are likely to be used in schools/colleges/ universities/ at sporting events etc.

Thank you all! I was curious why you could ONLY get one if you were asymptomatic. Ie: if you have symptoms, you get turned away (that’s what they say).

I don’t have symptoms and I don’t need a test of either kind, but there’s a site in my borough and I was curious about it.

If you’ve got symptoms it’s just a bit pointless getting a LFT because you have to go and get a confirmatory PCR after a positive lateral flow anyway.

So if you suspect you might actually have it, you might as well skip the LFT and go straight for the a PCR.

It wouldn’t hurt to have a LFT, but you’d need two tests because the LFT might say negative whereas PCRs are more sensitive and with covid symptoms I’d really be wanting to know more certainly.

DH works in a care home and was having a PCR test once a week (as were all staff, residents once a month). They had an outbreak.

Now, the staff who tested positive can’t have a PCR test for 90 days after their initial positive, because apparently it can pick up bits of dead virus even though they are not infectious. So they are all having LFD tests twice a week instead.

Not sure about the residents.

If you get a positive on a lateral flow at a registered test centre (not home tests) you don't need a confirmatory PCR now, that changed recently.

I thought it was more about infection control. Or perhaps, it will mean there is better data around asymptomatic cases?