Lateral Flow Antigen Test for Workforce Testing

February 2021 | Reading time: 5 minutes

Safety at work is of even more importance during the Coronavirus pandemic, and a rapid Covid-19 antigen test is now available to ensure employees aren’t infected or spreading the virus.

The lateral flow Covid-19 antigen test has recently been approved by the World Health Organisation to detect current coronavirus infections in individuals and offers results in just 15 minutes. It’s the ideal rapid test for all workplaces, film sets, for care workers and any other professional environment, to ensure the health and safety of employees and continue working with peace of mind in these uncertain times.

Rapid Antigen vs PCR Test

While PCR tests are also used to diagnose individuals who are currently sick with Covid-19, it requires intense laboratory analysis to detect the genetic material of the coronavirus. PCR tests are considered to be slightly higher in sensitivity because of this rigorous testing; however, the process usually takes over 24 hours for the results and therefore isn’t always ideal for organisations and individuals that require speedy, mass-testing and fast results.

The lateral flow antigen tests have the advantage of spotting virus proteins quickly, similar to a rapid strep throat test at your GP’s office, and are designed to be simple, easy to undertake and ideal for organisations that require an accurate, large scale view of the Covid-19 status of their employees. It’s also perfect for testing specific individuals quickly and efficiently to find out if they are carrying the virus and infectious to others.  The tests are highly accurate to screen patients for infection. A positive result means an individual is very likely to be carrying the covid-19 virus, and that it’s in high enough quantities to be infectious to others. A negative result means it’s highly likely that someone is not infectious to others, and those with a negative result should be able to return to work immediately.

The test can’t be undertaken at home and have to be performed by one of our trained healthcare professionals in-clinic. It involves a simple nose and throat swab and requires no extra equipment or the need to send away to a laboratory for the result. Those taking the test will also receive a results certificate, sent by email at the same time as the test. A positive antigen result can also be confirmed by one of our PCR tests to follow up for further clarity.

The test Covid-19 antigen test has become the second rapid antigen test to be approved by the World Health Organisation. It has recently greenlit a series of agreements to make several of these rapid, point-of-care antigen tests available to low and middle-income countries, setting aside $50million from its Covid-19 global response fund. It highlights the value of these tests where other testing is unavailable and to alleviate the stress on public health bodies all over the world. As well as supporting test-trace-isolate strategies, the tests can help identify or confirm new outbreaks, support outbreak investigations through screening, monitoring disease trends and potentially test asymptomatic contacts.

The antigen test has recently passed stage three of the WHO tests and are now considered a vital addition to the testing arsenal needed to contain and fight Covid-19. A clinical study of 241 individuals, including 60 PCR-positives and 181 PCR-negatives undertaken by researchers, have confirmed that the antigen test has high reliability and accuracy. It has shown a sensitivity of 98.2% in detecting viral levels that are considered infectious and a specificity of 97.9%

Antigens are molecules specific to a certain virus that sit outside the virus, and an immune response is triggered when the body detects them. The test finds COVID-19 specific antigen in samples taken from the back of the nose or throat. A fluid is added to the sample and is then tested for the presence of the Covid-19 viral protein using a lateral flow device, with the results displayed in 15 minutes.  The rapid antigen test kit is also considered extremely safe all around, with a self-contained tube and ‘break off’ swab that minimises staff exposure and comes with a fully enclosed extraction tube for disposal.

Book a Rapid Antigen Test

The tests are vital for fast-turnaround confirmation that an infection has occurred and will certainly have a huge role to play in avoiding larger outbreaks in future and halting further spread of the Covid-19 virus. Testing with these kits can help alleviate overcrowding in hospitals and may also be useful for supporting the NHS with contact tracing, testing more of the population than currently has access to tests and highlighting those who have an active infection.

If you are looking to test numerous people in the workplace to find out who is carrying the Covid-19 virus at levels that are infectious to others, this is the best test available. Ensuring immediate decisions can be made about how to move forward efficiently, productively and, above all, safely.