The antigen tests definitely seem to be much less effective than they used to be. There are so many false negatives, it's not clear that the test has any value

The antigen tests definitely seem to be much less effective than they used to be. There are so many false negatives, it's not clear that the test has any value. Many people have covid symptoms, test negative, and then figure they're good to go visit grandma in the nursing home or whatever, when the symptoms alone are probably a more reliable guide. We use molecular (Lucira) home tests, which are much more sensitive, and even those have given us very inconsistent and confusing results on two separate occasions. One thing that has helped anecdotally among my family and friends of mine is to do use a throat swab, and first thing in the morning before you eat or drink anything. A number of times, many other tests were negative, but that one was positive.