Should at-home testing be intimidating? Absolutely not—even if you’re riding completely solo in your plight against SARS-CoV-2, coronavirus testing at home is likely going to be the least of your concerns.
Do you need answers? Grab a swab—let’s talk COVID test technique. This will only take ten seconds, we promise.
How to self-swab for COVID-19 at home
It’s extraordinarily easy to self-administer a swab test for COVID-19 at home. To collect your own test sample, simply:
- Tilt your head back about 70 degrees
- Working slowly and carefully, insert your swab so that it’s parallel to the palate of the roof of the mouth, not the canal of the nostril itself
- Stop immediately when you feel resistance—the nasopharynx, which is right where you want to be swabbing
- Use the swab tip to rub the membrane gently, rolling it around to grab mucus with all sides
- Continue doing this for a few seconds, giving the tip time to absorb as much specimen as possible
- While continuing to rotate the swab, slowly remove it from your nose
- If the tip of the swab is not fully saturated, or an obstruction or a deviated septum diminishes your yield, repeat on the other side with the remaining nostril
- Protect your specimen by containing it in the transport tube that came included with your testing kit, or apply the specimen to the cassette cartridge of your rapid test kit
Once you’ve successfully self-swabbed, your results are already on their way. The gross part is over—now, only the answers that you seek remain.
