Rapid testing for Covid-19 is now possible for first responders and healthcare workers in Monterey county. That’s because a Monterey lab can detect an exposure in less than 20 minutes. Their testing is not available to the general public at this time. While the nose swab test looks for the virus itself, this “quick” test looks for antibodies that human bodies create in response to the virus.
Unfortunately, that means it cannot tell if someone has recently been exposed because the antibodies are not likely to have formed that quickly.