The COVID-19 virus is giving birth to various conspiracy theorists. The people come up with various pieces of news about the virus every day. Sometimes you will hear one thing about the test duration, and other times you will hear a completely different thing. It is crucial that you consult a trusted healthcare provider, such as any of our available providers at AFC Urgent Care Fairfield, to get the correct information. 

This one misinformation alone is creating a huge confusion in people when people hear that the test takes too long, which intimidates the person, and they skip from getting themselves tested. 

Uncertain times can lead to uncertainty in general, which varies from person to person. This same case is true COVID-19 testing where many patients are getting tested while others are forgoing a test even though they could have risk factors. Each test takes a different duration of all blood types and cases. However, you should expect the following situations. 

Comparison between Swab Test and Antibody Test

A COVID-19 test’s duration should not intimidate anybody at all. The doctor usually tells patients you when they can collect your test results from the office. However, each test can have unique variables compared to others. Therefore, the test can result can take a little longer than predicted time. In some cases, the results take a few hours more. In others, it might take a few weeks longer. 

However, in this case, you need to keep one thing in mind that the antibody test results come out faster than the swab test results. There are various reasons for the phenomenon. Many aspects make the antibody test swifter than the swab test. 

An antibody test, or serology test, is the process that analyzes a patient’s bloodstream to determine if they produced an immunity from a previous COVID-19 infection. The presence of antibodies determines if a patient’s immune system is effective in fighting off the COVID-19 virus. A standard swab test takes longer and is used to detect an active COVID-19 infection in patients. Rapid testing for standard infection detection will soon be available for most patients as testing supplies increase in the U.S.

As a rule of thumb, expect to get the results of an antibody test within 24 hours and the results of a swab test in a few days.

However, you should not panic if your test is taking longer than expected. Doctors are currently dealing with hundreds of patients at once and even more so as the demand for COVID-19 gradually increases. Your test is probably down the line, and you will soon get the results. 

The doctors do not willingly make you wait for your results to come. They will inform you about the results as soon as they receive them.