UCSF researchers: Binax home tests highly accurate in detecting omicron

SAN FRANCISCO - As COVID cases rise around the state, there have been questions about the accuracy of at-homes test in detecting the omicron variant.

UCSF researchers found that the BinaxNow test from Abbott is highly effective. 

Researchers said they tested hundreds of people at a San Francisco walk-up test site in the Mission District with a Binax test and a PCR test for two days earlier this month.

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The study showed that Binax correctly identified the virus in almost 90 percent of the people who did not have COVID symptoms, and 97 percent in those that did have symptoms.

The recent surge in COVID cases has made at-home tests hard to come by, forcing Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign an executive order the weekend aimed at preventing price gouging on at-home test kits. 

The order prohibits sellers from increasing prices on the test kits by more than 10 percent.