The molecular test, considered as the most reliable for the diagnosis of coronavirus, the Professor of Pulmonology, Theodoros Vasilakopoulos. Mr. Vassilakopoulos, who was speaking at the OPEN's morning show, “Hellenic Hour”, noting that at the current time, with the epidemic being in a high prevalence phase, the negative self-test does not guarantee us anything. He added that there is a 40-50% chance that a negative result on the self-diagnostic test is false. So, the point remains, in any case, to continue to comply with the measures.
On the other hand, he assured that the indication «positive» corresponds to reality, while he made sure to reiterate that the negative self-test «does not exonerate the negatives».
He added that «the negative self-test has a chance of being false», and explained: «It is not unsafe. With the self-test we will find too many of those who have a high concentration infection, who are very contagious. So we will also lose some of the negative ones, who have the disease, and we should all continue to be careful. If there was a solution to find all the positives and negatives, we would have solved the issue worldwide and the pandemic would be over. The government made a very good decision to have two self-tests, because the risk is minimized. Those who are negative should also continue to be careful.».
In conclusion, the professor stressed that these tests, although quite reliable, are not a panacea, which is also true for rapid tests. «The most reliable of all the tests is the molecular test which has a 30% probability of a false result. We are not done with the coronavirus. The cases are many but not aggressively growing,» he concluded.
