Is a Throat Swab More Accurate Than a Nasal Test in Detecting COVID-19? Inside Edition Looks to Find Out

Which is a more effective COVID-19 test? One administered through a person's nose or one that swabs the back of the mouth?

Nasal swabs are less likely to detect the Omicron variant than swabs of the throat, where more virus potentially lives, Los Angeles emergency room doctor Michael Daignault said. 

“They do the nasal swab and it's negative, but then the next day they take a new kit and swab the back of the throat and that's been positive,” the doctor told Inside Edition of some people's experiences. 

“The key thing to remember is you're not putting this as far back in your throat as you would in your nose for example," Daignault said of the test that required a swab of one's throat. "It's not going to be that uncomfortable; you just kind of like open your mouth and swab the back. Just get a good sample of saliva is the key."

Inside Edition reporter Alison Hall has COVID-19, despite being fully vaccinated.

She took two COVID-19 tests at home. One test involved Hall swabbing her nose and the required her to swab her throat.

The test through her nose said Hall was is negative, despite her experiencing symptoms consistent with COVID-19, while the test that required her to swab her throat came back positive.

A PCR test later confirmed that Hall did in fact have COVID-19 at the time of testing.

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