The slow-response for available rapid testing has kept nursing home residents waiting to visit with loved ones again. However, after less than a month of using rapid tests, which provide a positive or negative result within 15 minutes, nursing homes were ordered to halt the tests after over 20% of results resulted in false positives, proven after re-testing the samples.
While false negatives have their own repercussions, the danger of false positives could “prompt nursing homes to isolate residents or even dangerously move them to Covid-19 wards when they’re not infected.” However, federal officials claim that states do not have the right to order nursing homes to halt the testing, and must cease the ban.
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