At-home COVID tests are convenient and have added to the tools available to help prevent the spread of the virus.

They are valuable, but should not be the final word in testing, according to officials.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at-home tests, also known as self tests and over-the-counter tests,“detect current infection and give your result in a few minutes and are different from laboratory-based tests that may take days to return your result.”

“We really want people to use the at home tests… when they are symptomatic or have been exposed,” Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Keara Klinepeter said. “We want them to know quickly if they actually are positive so they can take the appropriate public health action and then isolate.”

It can take several days for a person who has been exposed to show a positive result, so officials recommend testing five days after a close contact.

“Self-tests along with vaccination, wearing a well-fitted mask, and physical distancing, help protect you and others by reducing the chances of spreading COVID-19,” according to the CDC.

There are some drawbacks to at-home testing.

The tests are not as accurate “especially if the person is asymptomatic,” Newton said. “Ideally a positive OTC test should be confirmed with a PCR test.”

CDC also suggests negative at-home tests be followed up. “If you test negative for COVID-19, consider testing again 1 to 2 days after your first test.”

“With over-the-counter tests more readily available, the general public seems to be choosing them over the more accurate PCR tests,” Gaughn’s Drug Store Owner and Pharmacist Scott Newton said. “Even though the PCR tests are much more accurate, people don’t want to have to wait for their results.”

“Over the last several weeks, Gaughn’s has seen a drastic decline in the number of PCR tests being collected at the store,” Newton said. “I would estimate the testing has dropped off by about 75 percent since our highs early last month.”

Results of at-home tests are not a matter of public record.

“There is no doubt that the OTC test lack that reporting component that the PCR tests have,” Newton said.

The results of “at-home tests are not required to be reported to the Department of Health,” Deputy Communications Director Ryan Eldredge said.

As the number of tests performed at hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies drops, the amount of data available about the prevalence and spread of COVID-19 is diminished.

With respect to the data, Eldredge said the department is still receiving plenty of information to show trends and looking at those trends, rather than the data from one day, is a better way for individuals to make conclusions and decisions.

“The prevalence of at-home tests is another reason the department urges people to follow longer-term trends rather than daily statistics,” he said. “While at-home test results may not be included in the department’s data, there is an abundance of other PCR and antigen test results being reported from traditional testing channels daily, therefore we have a large sample to maintain reporting COVID-19 incidence rates and trends.”

“For yesterday alone, the department received 23,298 PCR test results and 24,732 antigen tests,” he said. “The data reported on DOH’s multiple COVID-19 dashboards is more than sufficient to track trends.”

STATISTICS

According to the DOH, there have been 7,153 cases in Warren County so far, with 11 new cases added to the list on Friday and 28 over the past two days.

The county’s positivity rate, according to CDC, was 11.99.

The COVID death toll stands at 205 county residents.

The number of COVID-positive patients at Warren General Hospital is lower than at any time since early October. According to the department, there were two hospitalized patients at Warren General Hospital.

The number of cases among children is also down.

Among those 5 to 18, there were eight cases last week — bringing that total to 608 since August. Among young children (under five years old) there were no cases. There have been 111 cases in young children since August.