Holiday Gathering Without Covid-19
Our holiday tips from a year ago remain valid today: being outside if your climate allows, having a good amount of fresh air and using HEPA air purifiers if you are going to be inside, doing home antigen tests, and even isolating ahead of time if you have someone particularly at risk.
But now we have actual research evidence that you probably need to do only one of these things—the antigen tests. (See Aug. 5th, 2022 blog post.)
Although I would add that good fresh air ventilation is always a good thing—with a house full of more people than usual, having a few windows cracked open provides fresh air and prevents overheating if you’re in a cool climate.
For the antigen testing, all that is needed is for all participants (including children age 2 and older) do the testing on the same day, prior to gathering together.
And if the family event lasts more than one day, it’s important to re-test each morning. Each daily test, if done properly, means that the person is almost certainly not contagious for the day.
Buyers’ Guide to Home Antigen Tests
There are dozens of brands of covid-19 home antigen tests. A lot of them are made in China, which I don’t find palatable, so those are excluded from the following recommended brands.
Abbott BinaxNOW
This test was the one we recommended a year ago because of its good record of accuracy. Of all the ones we have tried, it is the easiest to use, as there is no open vial of liquid. Results in 15 minutes. Widely available at drug stores—Walmart has them for about $10 a test.
InteliSwab COVID-19 Rapid Test
This is another unique design in that the test card and the nose swab are all together. After swabbing both nostrils, the probe goes into an open vial, and that’s it—results in 30 minutes. Moderately available including now at Amazon for about $9 a test.
All the Rest
Most of the rest of the test kits are of the most common original design, with an open vial of liquid, a test swab, and then a slightly more complicated procedure of:
- collecting the swab sample from each nostril,
- stirring the swab in the vial,
- carefully removing the swab while squeezing the sides of the plastic vial,
- putting a cap on the vial,
- and dispensing a few drops out through the cap onto the test card.
Most of these take 10-15 minutes to get results.
We have tried several of this type that are made in China (oops), are just as expensive as BinaxNOW, or make it very difficult to get the cap put on the vial (AccessBio CareStart). We haven’t yet found a good one at a good price, not made in China. If you know of any, please let us know!
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Highlights From Past Blogs
October 28 - Testing, Testing, Testing
October 14 - Breathe Fresh Air - Be Smarter
September 2 - A Mask That Really Works
August 5 - Breaking News - Almost Zero Risk
April 29 - The Big Meter
April 7 - How to Test
March 21 - The Origin of the CDC’s Biggest Mistake
February 16 - Ventilation Revolution
January 11 - Air Purifiers
December 15 - The Double Risk of Indoor Dining