What Are Consequences Of A False Negative COVID-19 Test?
COVID-19Common questionWhat are consequences of a false negative COVID-19 test?Risks to a patient of a false negative test result include: delayed or lack of supportive treatment, lack of monitoring of infected individuals and their household or other close contacts for symptoms resulting in increased risk of spread of COVID-19 within the community, or other unintended adverse events.
Can someone test negative and later test positive on a viral test for COVID-19?
Yes, it is possible. You may test negative if the sample was collected early in your infection and test positive later during this illness. You could also be exposed to COVID-19 after the test and get infected then. Even if you test negative, you still should take steps to protect yourself and others. See Testing for Current Infection for more information.
Coronavirus (COVID-19) frequently asked questions
Can the COVID-19 molecular test give false negatives?
Molecular tests are typically highly sensitive for the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, all diagnostic tests may be subject to false negative results, and the risk of false negative results may increase when testing patients with genetic variants of SARS-CoV-2.
Genetic Variants May Lead to False Negatives with SARS-CoV-2 Molecular
Does a negative result rule out the possibility of COVID-19?
A negative result does not rule out COVID-19 and should not be used as the sole basis for treatment or patient management decisions. A negative result does not exclude the possibility of COVID-19.
Risk of False Results with the Curative SARS-Cov-2 Test for COVID-19
What does it mean if I test negative for COVID-19?
See full answerA negative test result means that the virus that causes COVID-19 was not found in your sample. However, it is possible for this test to give a negative result that is incorrect (false negative) in some people with COVID- 19. You might test negative if the sample was collected early during your infection.You could also be exposed to COVID-19 after your sample was collected and then have become infected. In particular, people infected with COVID-19 but who have no symptoms may not s
COVID-19 RT-PCR Test - Patient Fact Sheet