With a new COVID surge happening around the country, you may be taking at-home tests more often. It turns out that when you take an at-home test affects its accuracy.
A study came out last year that’s getting attention now, and researchers found that at-home covid tests are more accurate in the afternoon – and they’re less accurate in the morning and at night.
The study found that accurate positive test results are twice as likely if you do have covid when you test in the middle of the day.
The time of day appears to matter because more virus particles are released into blood and mucus mid-day, so there’s more virus for the tests to find – and the study shows this is beyond simply covid but is true with other viruses as well.
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