I tend to take everything I see on TikTok with a grain of salt. But I was intrigued when, about a week or so ago, a video of a New York City-based TV reporter doing an at-home COVID-19 test crossed my feed. In the video, the woman swabs her nose and gets a negative result; then, she swabs her throat and receives a positive result. She later confirmed she was indeed positive for the coronavirus via a PCR test.
The video has collected more than 1 million views, and contributed to a lively online conversation about whether you should add a throat swab to at-home COVID-19 tests. In the U.K., some testing kits already instruct users to first swab their throat and then their nose, but in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has only authorized tests based on nasal samples. As the debate continues, my colleague Alice Park talked to experts about the best way to swab. A few takeaways:
As Alice reports, “the official word is that nasal swabbing works well for rapid tests.” A spokesperson from Abbott, which makes the BinaxNOW kits, said its test is 95.6% accurate in detecting the virus in people whose symptoms appeared within seven days of taking the test. And recent research indicates that at-home swabs of the front part of the nose are almost as good as gold-standard PCR tests.
One reason people are so interested in throat swabs: while previous COVID-19 variants focused on the lungs, Omicron prefers the nose and throat, and some studies suggest infection might start in the throat and then move into the nasal passages. That means a throat swab could detect infection earlier
However, the FDA warns that swabbing the throat could be risky. “Those swabs are for your nose and not your throat,” the agency recently tweeted. “Use your at-home #COVID19 test exactly as directed to avoid invalid results or injuries.” As a doctor at UCSF Fresno told KFSN-TV, “You're using these little, tiny, sensitive brushes that aren't really made for the throat ... They can puncture you in the mouth.”
So, what’s the bottom line? It’s still unclear. If throat swabs can detect Omicron one day sooner than nose swabs, that seems like there’s clear value in taking that approach. But some experts worry the potential risks outweigh the benefits. “I personally swab my throat and my nose to get the best sensitivity when I use the over-the-counter tests at home,” Dr. Michael Mina, chief science officer at eMed and formerly at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, said during a recent virtual Q&A session at the Consumer Electronics Show. “But I do recognize that I do that at my own risk when I go off label.”
More than 644.6 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been shipped to various U.S. states as of this afternoon, of which more than 522.4 million doses have been administered, according to TIME's vaccine tracker. About 62.7% of Americans have been completely vaccinated.
More than 317 million people around the world had been diagnosed with COVID-19 as of 5 a.m. E.T. today, and more than 5.5 million people have died. On Jan. 12, there were over 3.6 million new cases and 9,163 new deaths confirmed globally.
Here's how the world as a whole is currently trending, in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
And here's every country that has reported over 5 million cases:
The U.S. had recorded more than 63.2 million coronavirus cases as of 5 a.m. E.T. today. More than 844,000 people have died. On Jan. 12, there were more than 894,000 new cases and 2,421 new deaths confirmed in the U.S.
Here's how the country as a whole is currently trending in terms of cases:
And in terms of deaths:
Here's where daily cases have risen or fallen over the last 14 days, shown in confirmed cases per 100,000 residents:
All numbers unless otherwise specified are from the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, and are accurate as of Jan. 13, 12 a.m. E.T. To see larger, interactive versions of these maps and charts, click here.
WHAT ELSE YOU SHOULD KNOW
President Joe Biden announced a plan to double the amount of free at-home COVID-19 tests available to the public and, that, for the first time, the government will distribute free N95 masks to Americans. During a speech at the White House today, Biden pledged to “surge” resources to help combat the Omicron-driven spike in cases. That includes 1 billion free rapid tests that will be available to Americans through a website expected to launch next week. Details on the masks will also be available then. “I know that for some Americans, the mask is not always affordable or convenient to get,” Biden said. “Next week we’ll announce how we’re making high-quality masks available to the American people for free.” Plus, Biden announced that, starting next week, 1,000 military medical personnel will be deployed across the U.S. to help overwhelmed hospitals.
Two new, hotly anticipated COVID-19 pills are in short supply and so are not doing much to help counteract the Omicron wave, the AP reports. The pills, by Pfizer and Merck, can cut the risk of severe illness when administered shortly after the onset of symptoms. However, production isn’t yet at full strength, and Pfizer’s pill, which is most effective, takes six to eight months to manufacture. The company says it can only supply about 250,000 treatment courses by the end of January.
Tens of thousands of teachers in France walked off the job today, staging a one-day strike over COVID-19 rules. As the New York Times reports, they were protesting newly relaxed testing protocols: Earlier this week, Prime Minister Jean Castex said that parents no longer have to pick up children immediately after a classmate tests positive for the virus, and kids who were exposed no longer have to get tested at a pharmacy or lab to return to class; instead, at-home test results will suffice. Teachers say those rules are too lax, especially as the Omicron variant continues to spread.
More than 100 American doctors and scientists signed an open letter in support of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden Administration’s top medical adviser for COVID-19. Fauci has received death threats and, as the New York Times reports , says his children have been subjected to obscene phone calls. Earlier this week, Fauci publicly accused Republican lawmakers of encouraging violence against him and his family. “We deplore the personal attacks on Dr. Fauci. The criticism is inaccurate, unscientific, ill-founded in the facts and, increasingly, motivated by partisan politics,” the letter states.
The Supreme Court today blocked the Biden Administration’s sweeping vaccine mandate for private businesses. Under the rule, workers at companies with 100 or more employees would have had to get vaccinated against COVID-19 or submit negative test results weekly in order to enter the workplace. The conservative-heavy court concluded that the mandate exceeded the government’s authority and was “otherwise unlawful.” Per the Associated Press, however, the court will permit a vaccine mandate for most health care workers in the U.S.
Thanks for reading. We hope you find the Coronavirus Brief newsletter to be a helpful tool to navigate this very complex situation, and welcome feedback at coronavirus.brief@time.com. If you have specific questions you'd like us to answer, please send them to covidquestions@time.com.
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Today's newsletter was written by Angela Haupt and edited by Elijah Wolfson.
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