Occurrence and Timing of Subsequent Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Reverse-transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction Positivity Among Initially Negative Patients

Using data for 20 912 patients from 2 large academic health systems, we analyzed the frequency of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction test discordance among individuals initially testing negative by nasopharyngeal swab who were retested on clinical grounds within 7 days. The frequency of subsequent positivity within this window was 3.5% and was similar across institutions.

Automated summary

This study analyzed 20,912 patients from 2 large academic health systems and found that the frequency of individuals testing negative initially but testing positive later within 7 days was 3.5%, which was consistent across different institutions.