Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Support the IDS in College Media Madness! Donate here March 24 - April 8.
Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

A machine that analyzes test results sits next to a laptop displaying a positive test result Oct. 27 in IU’s COVID-19 testing labs in Myers Hall. The saliva tests IU uses and processes in its laps are saliva-based PCR tests, or polymerase chain reaction tests. In short, these tests are very accurate; more accurate than antigen saliva tests and even possibly more accurate than nasal PCR tests, scientific director Craig Pikaard said. Scientific reports show that nasal PCR tests could pick up viral fragments from someone who has recovered from COVID-19, Pikaard said, which would result in a false positive result that saliva-based PCR tests avoid. Colin Kulpa

Testing machine

A machine that analyzes test results sits next to a laptop displaying a positive test result Oct. 27 in IU’s COVID-19 testing labs in Myers Hall. The saliva tests IU uses and processes in its laps are saliva-based PCR tests, or polymerase chain reaction tests. In short, these tests are very accurate; more accurate than antigen saliva tests and even possibly more accurate than nasal PCR tests, scientific director Craig Pikaard said. Scientific reports show that nasal PCR tests could pick up viral fragments from someone who has recovered from COVID-19, Pikaard said, which would result in a false positive result that saliva-based PCR tests avoid.