How to take a Covid Antigen Test in Japan

    One of the things that I was surprised to note was what Japan's testing situation looks like for the Coronavirus from the other side of the test tube. Scientifically, if you really wanted to know how many people were sick, we would test the people with symptoms and test everyone who is close to them. We would follow up with more tests when symptoms subsided or new ones developed. We would know who exactly is sick and when. Japan is not doing this, instead choosing to be more reserved with their testing. While some places offer free PCR tests to anyone, the bottom line of that "anyone" at least in Miyagi does not include close contacts of corona patients.

    While the antigen test seen here, purchased on Amazon but also available at many drug stores, isn't nearly as useful as a PCR test, it does seem to be the way that Japanese folks, especially close contacts, are going about proving a negative status if they have yet to test positive on any other kind of test.

    The antigen tests are not 100% accurate and it says both in the description on Amazon and in the info packet that comes with the test that these should not be used to confirm a negative diagnosis on coronavirus. However, that's exactly what everyone is doing, because it is the only method we seem to have.

    This test comes in a packet. It warns not to open the packet until right before you're going to use it. Anyone who went through puberty was the uterus will likely see some familiarity with how this runs, save for everything involving different fluids in different orifices. There's a saliva collection sponge that extends from the tip of a plastic tube, kind of like a spit collection tampon. It's recommended to rub the sponge around under your tongue and over the roof of your mouth for up to two minutes. This should be done more than half an hour after you last ate or drank anything.

    Then you stab the saliva tampon into the bottom end and push down hard enough for it to connect and click. Then you wait 15 minutes, kind of like a long pregnancy test, only this time you are definitely, definitely hoping for a negative result. Decoding the results follow the pregnancy test model pretty closely. The top line means the test went through correctly. The bottom line means you are positive for coronavirus antigen and will likely test positive on the PCR test you can now get for free from the makers of this test (see package for details), but only if you see two lines. If you don't have the top line, the test was not completed correctly and should be done again after consulting the instructions more thoroughly. The package warns not the trust results after a certain timeline. Just set a timer and check your results at the appropriate time. If you only see the top line, you're fine. Probably. Huzzah!