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Rapid Covid-19 home tests are more likely to give a false negative if one was infected with the Omicron variant, AFP reported.

This was revealed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Dec. 28 as the country is facing a huge spike in cases that are not fully captured due to underreporting.

Home kits in the U.S. are in extremely short supply.

There is also a long waiting time to take the more accurate PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests.

Study to gauge home testing performance

A study is underway to gauge the performance of home tests, also known as "antigen" tests, against patient samples containing live versions of the Omicron variant.

FDA said early data suggests that antigen tests do detect the Omicron variant, but may have reduced sensitivity.

How likely a test is able to detect a positive reflects its sensitivity.

A drop-off in performance hadn't been spotted until now, FDA said, but it would continue to authorise the use of antigen tests.

More accurate PCR still recommended

Antigen tests work by detecting surface proteins of the coronavirus.

However, if a person with symptoms or is suspected to have exposure to Covid-19 tests negative with a rapid test, they are still recommended to get a "gold standard" molecular test, such as PCR.

Top photo via Unsplash

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