Rapid Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2

Key Clinical Points Rapid Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2 Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) that are authorized by the Food and Drug Administration to diagnose severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection are either nucleic acid amplification tests to detect genes or antigen-based immunoassays to detect proteins of SARS-CoV-2. RDTs are approved for use in persons with symptoms of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and in asymptomatic persons who are close contacts of a person with Covid-19 or who have been in a potential high-risk transmission setting. Symptomatic persons should undergo testing as soon as possible, quarantine while awaiting test results, and consider retesting if they have a negative RDT, particularly if they have a high pretest probability of infection. Asymptomatic persons with a known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 should undergo testing 5 to 7 days after exposure, and if the RDT is negative, they should undergo testing again 2 days later. Persons with a known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 who are not fully vaccinated should quarantine while awaiting test results, and persons who test positive should isolate, contact a health care provider or public health department, and inform close contacts about the infection. Rapid Diagnostic Testing for SARS-CoV-2 RDTs for SARS-CoV-2 - either molecular nucleic acid amplification tests or antigen-based immunoassays to detect proteins - are approved for persons with Covid-19 symptoms and asymptomatic persons with known exposure to SARS-CoV-2 or those in a high-transmission setting. Antigen-based tests have lower sensitivity than PCR tests, but they may correlate better with replication-competent virus.