Tests have false negatives. The problem isn't so much the test, but rather the p... | Hacker News

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		echelon on Jan 13, 2021 \| parent \| context \| favorite \| on: U.S. to require negative Covid-19 tests for intern... Tests have false negatives. The problem isn't so much the test, but rather the public which isn't fully qualified to interpret the results. Biology and chemistry are complicated and messy. Sometimes signal is noisy or below the limit of detection.

dboreham on Jan 13, 2021 [–]

It's also subtle in that while false negatives are common, false positives are rare (very rare). But general public don't get that subtlty and assume "the test isn't reliable" so a positive means they're not infected.

Source: numerous friends and relatives.

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