Live: Coronavirus daily news updates, May 19: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world

With COVID-19 cases on the rise, taking an easy-to-get rapid test can give you quick results.

But the timing has become tricky.

If you have COVID symptoms, such as fever, cough, congestion or a sore throat, test yourself immediately but know that a negative result may mean that you swabbed too early.

“Most of the time, people are not getting a positive result until three to five days after they start to show symptoms,” said Kathryn Pebanco, a nurse practitioner at the MinuteClinic in Plantation, Florida.

Pebanco says you should repeat a rapid test a few days later if you get a negative result and have COVID symptoms or were in close contact with someone who tested positive. Meanwhile, take precautions, particularly if you are coming in contact with someone at high risk of severe disease if they get infected.

Some researchers believe the virus is more heavily concentrated in your throat and mouth before it makes its way to the nose. Now there is some discussion of adding a throat swab to test kits to make them more accurate.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, “Multiple negative rapid tests increase the confidence that you are not infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.“

If you’re positive, begin isolating immediately — even if you don’t have symptoms. False positives are rare.

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