The Covid Test Is Not Intended To Test Water, But a Sample of the Nose or Throat!
We are reviewing a Facebook post claiming that the coronavirus detection test comes out positive when testing the water. In an attempt to prove such a manipulative claim, a video was presented in which people who look like they are medical staff in a laboratory and speak Spanish, perform a Covid test on five drops of water, which they pour from an ordinary tap. After watching the video, you can see that the second line of the test, which should indicate a positive test, appears pale, but still exists. From this, the author of the post concludes that the test is “positive on water”.
To begin with, we will remind you that this is not the first time such a claim has appeared on social networks, slightly modified. At the start of the pandemic, when rapid tests appeared to detect covid in about 15 minutes, conspiracy theorists tried to displace them using Coca-Cola and other foods during testing. Kiwi was also tested.
Rapid antigen tests are intended to be used to examine a sample of the human nose and throat, rather than foods and beverages that have different characteristics. Thus, the Coca-Cola tested by the Austrian MP has a very acidic PH value, which can damage the test, especially because the MP himself did not use a buffer at all in the testing, a substance that aims to keep the PH value stable during the experiment. The same logic can be applied to the case of the kiwi.
Siemens and Roche in Austria produce antigen tests. Roche, after the Coca-Cola test, said:
“Cola is not the test substance intended for the test, and therefore we cannot consider this a valid method for performing the test. The physiological pH in the body is tightly regulated to pH 7. On the other hand, Cola is very acidic (pH 2.2), which destroys most of the proteins and renders this test useless. Any protein-based test would not work with Cola or would give false results.”
In this video, you can watch the complete test conducted by the manufacturer, which showed a negative result of Covid-19 because a buffer was used. This substance is used to normalize the pH of the sample.
But what happens to water and the fact that it supposedly gives a positive result of covid in the video and the post that is the subject of our interest? Foreign fact-checkers already have experience with such “experiments” and in conversations with the manufacturers of these tests are given the explanation that rapid tests should be used with a sample of the nose or nasopharynx, and not with water, food or fluids.
“When used as intended, it is a highly accurate test that is helping to detect COVID-19 across the world and can significantly improve efforts to control transmission. Spreading misinformation with deliberate misuse of a medical product during a pandemic is misleading and irresponsible.” – said Abbott, one of the leaders in the United States for rapid tests to detect covid-19.
So, the problem is not in the test and its accuracy, but in that it is not conducted with a suitable material, i.e. a swab from the nose or throat.
As you can read on the official website of the renowned Mayo Clinic from the USA, the virus that causes Covid-19 has not been detected in drinking water.
Because the virus was not detected in water and because the test presented in the video was made with an inadequate sample, we conclude that it is disinformation that the Covid test is positive on water. These bizarre coronavirus tests on fruits, vegetables and other food products are intended to demonstrate the alleged inaccuracy and ineffectiveness of Covid tests. However, no matter what the test result shows when a water sample is tested, for example, it means nothing in terms of the effectiveness of the test when used for screening or detection of covid-19. This only means that an incorrect sample has been placed in the test.
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This article has been produced as part of the Rapid Response to Vaccine Disinformation Project, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation. It was originally published in Truthmeter, and is made possible by the support of (BTD – The Balkan Trust for Democracy, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States). The content of this article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not necessarily reflect the views of Metamorphosis, BTD or their partners.
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