LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With COVID-19 testing sites slammed and testing appointments getting harder to come by, many in Southern Nevada are turning to at-home test kits.
But what should you do if your at-home test result is positive? Do you need to report it? The Southern Nevada Health District says you are not obligated to report your results. In fact, the health district does not count them in their test positivity rate.
“At-home test kits are not reportable to the health district. Currently, we accept PCR test results in health care. Those point-of-care tests do make it to our system, but they’re not used for our calculations or test positivity rate," said Dr. Cassius Lockett with the Southern Nevada Health District.
Although the at-home test kits do not get counted in the test positivity rate, health officials say they are not necessarily concerned about it leading to under-reported cases.
“Throughout the pandemic, cases have always been under-reported. If you remember at the beginning of the pandemic — in 2020, back in March — testing was extremely limited," Lockett said.
Health officials say their main concern is not people reporting their at-home test results, but more about people taking the proper safety precautions if they do test positive.
“Now we have the antigen test kits available to help us to get people to use the public health tools to stop spreading the disease. You don’t necessarily have to report to us," Lockett said. "We are not concerned about that. We are only concerned that if you test positive — especially with the antigen test kit, if you test positive, you are probably infectious."
For those wanting to report their results, the health district says there is still an option to do that on their website. You can visit their website for more information.
