Kids are Faking Positive COVID-19 Tests to Get Out of School

 


A friend recently sent me a link to an article about how kids in the UK are faking COVID-19 tests to get out of school.  The tests in question are "lateral flow tests" that check whether anything in the sample binds to antibodies embedded in the test strips.  

To take the test, you get a sample from your nose, then dissolve it in a buffer solution. You then pour that into the plastic test rig, and if a "test" line shows up the match a "control" line on the test strip, you're positive.

This guy goes into details of how the tests work. It's kind of interesting, and you can read it if you're into things like that.

But the scam has to do with that buffer solution. Not only does it dilute the mucus sample into something that can flow through the test rig, it also ensures that it is at a neutral pH level (acid-base) required for the antibodies to work and detect viruses.

What the kids do is replace the buffer with some acidic substance like juice or soft drinks. That is enough to trip the "test" line even if no virus is present. 

The guy demonstrated that it works. He also showed that if you wash the buffer solution through the test rig, the test line disappears.

So I have two questions about this. First, why are kids trying to get out of school? I can't tell you how many interviews I've seen with kids talking about how they miss school. They want to get back so bad so they can be with their friends and interact directly with their teachers.  Why are they now trying to avoid all that by rigging  COVID-19 tests?

Second, and more importantly, how the hell did some kid figure all this out?!? It's not like the tests are just laying around to be experimented with. I suppose a kid could buy some, but they cost $20-$25 a pop on Amazon. Kids don't have that that kind of money to spend. If they did I doubt they'd spend it on something like COVID-19 test kits.

Or maybe some smart kid with a good STEM education researched the tests and found out that a neutral pH is essential to preventing false positives.  Either way it's pretty impressive that some little bugger figured it out.   

Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay 

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