... they are far less reliable than PCR tests – and are “almost useless” when cases are very low. ...
New Zealand Institute of Medical Laboratory Science president Terry Taylor said rapid antigen tests are, at best, 80 per cent accurate when there is low prevalence of the virus, producing about 10 false positives for every one true positive.
From a pool of 1000 people, of whom 50 have confirmed Covid-19 infections, a rapid antigen test would detect 48 true positives, miss two cases, and produce 48 false positives, on average, he said.
“If you’re using it in a business sense, they’re going to have more people sitting at home that haven’t got Covid, than sitting at home that do have Covid."
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The rapid antigen tests are PERFECT for teachers, who have shown throughout the pandemic that they'd rather find any excuse to stay at home than go to school.
