NORFOLK, Va. - Right now, demands for testing are growing, and people in Hampton Roads are turning to at-home test kits to find out if they potentially have COVID-19.
The kits are available at local drugstores for about $25. One of them, BinaxNow, is on the shelves right now. It has two tests where people swab their noses and get results in about 15 minutes.
Experts say the results are more accurate if you're showing symptoms.
"They're much more accurate if you actually have symptoms than if you had a close contact with a case and you haven't developed any symptoms," said Dr. Edward Oldfield, an infectious disease expert at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
The kits generally instruct people to test once and then again about 48 hours later. Experts say PCR tests are still more accurate.
"It's very, very good if it's positive. The only issue with rapid tests is that they can be negative sometimes when people are positive," said Oldfield.
A local parent tells News 3 she got the test for her kids when they developed cold symptoms recently.
Related: Wait times increase for COVID-19 testing as community spread spikes in Hampton Roads
"We just wanted to differentiate and be extra cautious and find out if it was really COVID or not," said Samantha Lester. "We thought the at-home test was a great option."
