Last edited Fri Aug 28, 2020, 09:12 PM - Edit history (1)
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2020/08/28/covid-19-iowa-2-663-coronavirus-cases-12-deaths-reported/5654887002/
State officials had been counting positive antigen tests as "inconclusive," because the rapid tests aren't quite as accurate as more common PCR tests, which usually take longer to yield results. But federal experts say positive antigen tests for the coronavirus are almost always correct, and the state shifted its position on Thursday.
https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-positivity-rate-antigen-results-20200828
Iowa on Friday reported that more than three-quarters of the coronavirus tests performed in the past 24 hours had come back positive.
The positivity rate jumped to a record 79.43 percent — with 2,579 new COVID-19 cases confirmed out of 3,247 tests.
But Pat Garrett, spokesman for Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, said Friday evening that the abrupt increase is a one-time event, reflecting the addition of antigen tests to state numbers.
The results of about 10,000 antigen tests, previously marked as “inconclusive,” were updated as positive or negative — thereby boosting the number of cases and the positivity rate.
= new reply since forum marked as read