With all the rising cases, false negatives and never-ending fear, here is a step by step guide to help with understanding self-tests and whether one is actually Covid-19 positive. 

The Rapid Antigen Self Test-Kit is divided into a saliva type and a nasal type. The one mostly used is the former, however, a positive can only be detected on a saliva self test-kit if your viral load (how infectious you are) has a CT value of below 30. 

This means, that should the virus you're facing be not as infectious, detecting a positive on a self-test kit could fail. Unfortunately, this in no way negates the fact that you're positive. 

Should you have taken a self-test which shows a negative, yet you're feeling unwell, exhibiting symptoms or are convinced you're infected, then your best bet would be to go to a clinic for an Antigen Nasal or a PCR. 

Doing a PCR would detect even the slightest hint of the virus, and provide a detail report on your variant as well as CT value. However, PCRs only give you results after 24 hours and are on the pricier side. 

Besides that, you could also opt for an Antigen Nasal (not as sensitive), which is cheaper than a PCR, and would give you instant results. 

But if you do want to stick to saliva self-test kits, which is perfectly okay too, here are some things to note:

1. Best to do it early in the morning before brushing your teeth or consuming anything

2. If you do it throughout the day, refrain from eating or drinking 30 minutes prior to the test

3. Results will only be accurate within the window of 10-15 minutes after, past that is contamination

4. If you're showing symptoms after a negative self-test (5 days onward), your results are no longer accurate

5. Even a faint second line on a self-test kit is a positive