If people want to know if the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus is on any surface with which they could come into contact, it is now possible thanks to a home test by the company Phyalgen Surface, and whose results can be known in 48 hours.
This test would make it easier for schools and offices to identify if there are COVID-19 sufferers among those who frequent the facilities, even those without symptoms, so that they can take greater precautions.
NBC correspondent Vicky Nguyen conducted several tests in New York to find out the sites that have the virus on their surfaces. Samples were also collected in California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey.
The test involves using multiple swabs with a solution that is rubbed against the surfaces and then stored in a small capsule to send to the laboratory. The company currently sells 10 packages for $ 400.
Nguyen obtained samples of places that are frequently touched, such as handrails, elevator buttons and doorknobs, as well as other public areas, such as subway stations, coffee shops, public toilets and supermarkets.
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Photo: A New Day
After 48 hours, Florida was found to have the highest number of positive tests, with 20% overall and 6% positive tests taken indoors.
Among these tests, some of the samples that tested positive were: in an elevator, the handle of a garbage dump, an ATM and a restaurant tablecloth.
In New York, only two of the samples tested positive, one from a grocery cart and a drawer to store bread.
In the California case, samples were taken from a gasoline pump, the handle of a bus seat and the button of an office elevator and all were negative.
Since contaminated surfaces have been shown not to be the major cause of coronavirus transmission, these tests would serve more to detect whether there have been infected persons on the premises.
"The limitations are that you really don't know how much virus there is and if it is alive or dead, then you don't know if someone can really be infected or not," said epidemiologist Tista Ghosh.
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