FDA says PCR tests for COVID are 'gold standard' after CDC admits they catch old infections

Questions about the sensitivities of PCR tests have lingered since summer 2020, but FDA stands behind them as the best detection tool for COVID-19

By Greg Piper

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky's recent admission that common tests for COVID-19 can detect long-gone infections has some calling into question the Food and Drug Administration's claim that the tests represent the "gold standard" for diagnosing coronavirus.

The CDC's new caution also falls in line with reports going back 16 months about widespread false positives among the so-called PCR tests, particularly when labs run them at high "cycle thresholds," which pick up viral loads that may be dead or too small to transmit.

The CDC's decision Monday to halve the recommended "isolation" time for asymptomatic COVID-19 infections amid the Omicron wave, regardless of whether individuals test negative, prompted consternation in some medical circles......To Read More.....