Which is a more effective COVID-19 test? One that’s inserted through the nose, or one that swabs around the back of your mouth?
Nasal swabs are less likely to detect the Omicron variant than swabs of the throat, where more virus potentially lives, Los Angeles emergency room doctor Michael Daignault said.
“They do the nasal swab and it’s negative, but then the next day they take a new kit and swab the back of the throat and that’s been positive,”Inside Edition was told by the doctor about some of his patients’ experiences.
“The key thing to remember is you’re not putting this as far back in your throat as you would in your nose for example,” Daignault said of the test that required a swab of one’s throat. “It is not going to feel uncomfortable. You only need to take a small amount of saliva.
Alison Hall, Inside Edition reporter, has COVID-19 despite having been fully vaccinated.
Two COVID-19 home tests were taken by her. Hall had to clean her nose, and Hall had to clean her throat.
The test through her nose said Hall was is negative, despite her experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, while the test that required her to swab her throat came back positive.
A PCR test later confirmed that Hall did in fact have COVID-19 at the time of testing.