False negatives is not the only outcome: False Covid positive a concern too

False positives are generally very rare among tests that have been vetted by the Food and Drug Administration

In the high-stakes world of coronavirus testing, one mistake has taken center stage: the dreaded false negative, wherein a test mistakenly deems an infected person to be virus-free.

These troublesome results, experts have said, can deprive a person of treatment and embolden them to mingle with others, hastening the spread of disease.

But false negatives are not the only errors bedeviling coronavirus diagnostics. False positives, which incorrectly identify a healthy person as infected by the virus, can have serious consequences as well, especially in places where the virus is scarce.

Although false positives may seem relatively harmless in comparison with their false-negative cousins,