ALLEN COUNTY, OH (WLIO)- Those who have had a COVID test sitting at home may want to check the date on the box to ensure that the materials can still give you an accurate test.
Allen County Public Health says that test kits may have a shelf life that is dependent on when the COVID test was manufactured. If left past for four to six months or even more, depending on the maker, it could cause the test kit to not deliver an accurate result in COVID detection. Allen County Public Health wants to remind residents to check their test kits as soon as they can.
"Based on the date from the manufacturer so it's typically 4 to 6 months," said Shelly Gearing, public health emergency preparedness planner. "They have found though that as we learned more with COVID as more studied, the shelf life can be extended quite often due to what they're finding through these studies."
Allen County Public Health also wants to remind residents that there is still time to get a COVID test from the government.
"The government has COVID tests available until this Friday, September 2nd. Each family can get up to 8 tests and this is the third round, so if you've already got your third round you can't get anymore, but if you've only got one or two rounds of the tests you can get on the website, covid.gov/tests and you can get yourself some more tests before it ends on this Friday," added Gearing.
More information on COVID testing can be found on Allen County Public Health's website.
