Elon Musk could have COVID-19. He tweeted he made 4 speedy checks, and two of them got here up optimistic. The opposite two had been adverse, which made him doubt these checks work. Verify his tweet under.

Musk advised his Twitter followers he’s simply feeling cold-like signs.

Though the Tesla CEO suspects there’s “one thing extraordinarily bogus” with quick checks, that’s not the case. Quick checks assist isolate an individual which will have COVID-19 earlier than they infect others. They’re one of many principal methods governments should attempt to preserve the illness beneath management, even when they aren’t probably the most correct ones. If somebody will get a optimistic lead to a quick check, extra exact testing is often carried out. 

That’s the case for Elon Musk, who has additionally taken a polymerase chain response (PCR) check. As a Nature article explains, it’s virtually 100% efficient as a result of it detects viral RNA. The draw back is that it’s far more complicated and calls for “educated personnel, particular reagents, and costly machines that take hours to supply outcomes.”

The reality is that quick checks verify if an individual has been uncovered to COVID-19 as a result of it detects antigens on the virus’s floor. Musk’s PCR check is simply to verify the an infection. If he weren’t sick with COVID-19, all 4 checks would in all probability be adverse.

Sources: Bloomberg and Nature