School-aged children can test themselves for COVID-19 with nearly just as much accuracy as healthcare workers, according to a US study.
All it takes is some simple instructions, the study found, with participants aged between four and 14 given guidance through a video and handouts.
The study included nearly 200 children, and of the self-collected positive results, 97.8 matched up with positive results taken by healthcare workers.
Children who self-tested as negative saw results match up with healthcare workers in 98.1 per cent of cases, according to the Emory University School of Medicine findings published in JAMA.
The study noted each of the children were supervised while they self-tested, and all of them were symptomatic.
“Additionally, the results support the potential for non- traditional testing schemes for children, and future studies should investigate unsupervised self-collection and sample drop off at schools, prior to events, and testing at home,” the study said.
About 40 per cent of Australian children aged between five and 11 have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the latest federal health data.
Australia’s third dose coverage stands at more than 71 per cent of the eligible population, including about 55 per cent of eligible Indigenous people, and nearly 95 per cent of aged care residents.
More than 76 per cent of eligible NDIS participants have received three or more doses, and that jumps up to 91 per cent for NDIS residents.
Australia recorded another 62 deaths of people with COVID-19 on Friday, along with nearly 13,500 new cases of the virus.
(AAP)
