More coronavirus testing available this week at UND – Grand Forks Herald

UND will be hosting more coronavirus testing this week.

The university will host a walk-up testing event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the High Performance Center in Grand Forks.

Testing at the event will include PCR tests and BinaxNOW rapid antigen tests. A PCR test looks at the genetic material of the virus, and an antigen test looks for pieces of proteins that make up COVID-19. Both tests determine if the person has an active infection. BinaxNOW is a rapid antigen test with results available in apbout 15 minutes. The antigen tests are not as sensitive and do have a higher false-negative rate meaning you may test negative, but still have the virus.

People of all ages may participate in the testing event, even if they do not have symptoms. The COVID-19 test is a point-in-time test.

If a person was identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case, it is recommended to get tested. The CDC issued new guidance reducing the days close contacts will need to quarantine following an exposure to a COVID-positive individual. The updated guidance can be found at http://www.health.nd.gov/closecontact. One of the options to reduce the length of quarantine to seven days is for the individual to remain symptom-free and test negative for COVID-19 48 hours prior to release.

Interested individuals can fill out an online survey at testreg.nd.gov for quicker registration.

Upcoming testing events can be found at http://www.grandforksgov.com/masstesting.

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More coronavirus testing available this week at UND - Grand Forks Herald