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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Thea van de Mortel for the Conversation

Is my RAT actually working? How to tell if your Covid test can detect Omicron

Omicron Covid-19 TGA Australia
‘All RATs meant for use at home in Australia that have been independently tested so far seem to be able to detect Omicron. The bad news is that not all RATs have been independently tested yet.’
‘All RATs meant for use at home in Australia that have been independently tested so far seem to be able to detect Omicron. The bad news is that not all RATs have been independently tested yet.’ Photograph: Amer Ghazzal/Rex/Shutterstock

You’ve tested negative for Covid using a rapid antigen test (RAT), but are a close contact of a positive family member and have symptoms. So you might be wondering if you’re really Covid-negative or if the test is working as well as it should.

There are many reasons why your RAT may not give you the results you expect. But one factor is whether RATs can detect the Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 (the virus that causes Covid).

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