The city and county of Los Angeles are working with the University of Southern California to roll out a coronavirus rapid antigen testing program that could help slow the spread of the virus by providing faster results, officials announced Tuesday.
“This could be the game-changer we’ve been waiting for,” Mayor Eric Garcetti said at press briefing Tuesday. “We understood early on what testing could do to get us back on track, save lives and stop the spread.”
Antigen tests look for pieces of proteins that make up the SARS-CoV-2 virus and are less sensitive than PCR tests for detecting COVID-19 infections, health officials explained at the briefing. The rapid tests will try to identify people who are contagious before they are further along in their symptoms, officials said. The key is to provide an affordable test with quicker results that people can use in their homes or offices.