SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted last night that he had taken four seemingly “bogus” COVID-19 tests, resulting in two positive and two negative tests following minor cold symptoms he had over the past few days.
Something extremely bogus is going on. Was tested for covid four times today. Two tests came back negative, two came back positive. Same machine, same test, same nurse. Rapid antigen test from BD.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2020
Elon later followed up with a tweet questioning the accuracy of the sars-cov2 PCR test and whether it is possible to generate a false positive, when you simply run enough cycles. According to the CDC, PRC tests are the “gold standard” test for diagnosis of Covid-19 with a 95% accuracy especially effective with higher viral load in the early stages of the disease.
This begs the question, how did Elon Musk’s tests result in both positive and negative results and how are these sort of results effecting the national COVID-19 case numbers. How many patients are coming down with a “common cold” and end up with a COVID-19 diagnosis.
Celebrities all over social media have voiced their concerns for Elon’s health and worry that the news will impact the upcoming Space X astronaut launch on Sunday. “I wish him well and pray for a speedy recovery,” said FilmOn CEO Alki David on his official Instagram.