There’s a high demand for COVID-19 tests in South Florida, but not every site offers both PCR and rapid antigen testing.
This can be a deal-breaker for some people, who are looking for a site that offers a specific test, though both can detect COVID-19, including the omicron variant.
Some people prefer rapid antigen tests (available at some sites and are also sold as at-home test kits) because of how quickly results return, sometimes within 15 minutes.
A couple walk by a QR code out side of a Monoclonal Antibodies distribution site to treat Covid-19, at Tropical Park on Tuesday afternoon, January 04, 2021. Pedro Portal pportal@miamiherald.com
Other people like PCR tests, which are considered the gold standard for testing and are available in most sites. This is because PCR tests have the ability to detect the virus sooner but it takes longer for results to arrive, about an hour to a few days. Some people like to get tested with both at the same time.
What about you?
If you were exposed to someone who had COVID-19 or are feeling sick, which test do you prefer taking?
Let us know in the survey below. This isn’t a scientific poll — it’s just to see how readers think. If you don’t see the poll, turn off your ad blocker.
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 12:35 PM.
Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health’s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald’s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow. Support my work with a digital subscription
