The Enthusiast's Guide To At-Home COVID-19 Tests

Testing for COVID at home, I would argue, is the project we’ve all been waiting for. I’ve always kind of liked the challenge of those blood-alcohol tests you blow into, although they’re one of the rare experiences that is less fun if you’ve been drinking.Read More: At-Home COVID-19 Tests to Be Covered by Insurers Starting Jan. 15, 2022The at-home COVID-19 tests however, are a genuine do-it-yourself chemistry test. There’s not enough data to suggest which is the most accurate, but I tried five tests and ranked them from most fun to use to least fun, because if everything we do is a drag, then the virus has won.Read More: COVID-19 Test Makers Struggle to Cope With Whiplash From Omicron(By the way, If you were hoping to skip the uncomfortable nose poking part by taking an at-home test, you’re out of luck. All the tests come with a nose swab, some long and elegant, others more Q-tip-sized. Binax Now (Abbott Laboratories, about $12 per test): Like all tests, this pack comes with nasal swabs, reagents and a test reader. After you’ve stirred up the interior of your nostril you swirl the swab in the test tube, remove it and then dip a strip of paper in the test tube for one minute. It’s the only test I took that asked me to flick the specimen bottle, like a real lab technician might. It’s a bit more confusing though: because of the design, it’s difficult to tell which was the used vial and which was the unopened one when I finished the test and I had to dispose of both of them.All of my tests were negative.