NIH has developed a website that allows people to easily and securely report their at-home COVID-19 and flu test results. MakeMyTestCount.org doesn’t ask for personal information when you report your positive or negative result. It just wants to know what your ZIP code is, when you took the test, and how old you are. By reporting your test result, you are contributing to the data and helping public health officials capture accurate information.
Public officials rely on accurate COVID-19 and flu testing information to track patterns of infection and surges in COVID-19 and flu cases, as well as to develop public health guidance such as vaccination campaigns and masking recommendations. Earlier in the COVID-19 pandemic, at-home COVID-19 testing was not widely available. Public health departments collected laboratory COVID-19 test results and sent the information to a central repository. But now most people use at-home rapid antigen tests to see whether they have COVID-19, and at-home tests are also available for flu. These tests are widely available at many places, including pharmacies and grocery stores, and results are available in as little as 15 minutes. Health care providers and laboratories have a well-established system for sharing laboratory test results, but there is no system for reporting at-home testing. When at-home testing results go unreported, public health recommendations made based on laboratory testing data may not reflect current COVID-19 and flu levels.
MakeMyTestCount.org was created by NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx ® ) Tech program to give people a secure place to report their at-home test results. The results are then submitted to the same public health systems that currently receive COVID-19 and flu test results from tests done in laboratories and doctors’ offices. The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering supports the RADx ® Tech program and the development of MakeMyTestCount.
Just like laboratory tests, at-home COVID-19 and flu tests can provide valuable information about how fast SARS-CoV-2 and flu are spreading and where case surges are happening. MakeMyTestCount.org makes it possible to collect anonymous data from those at-home tests, helping public health officials assess needs and provide resources to communities around the country.