In a Khan Academy video, it talks about copy cat viruses. I have heard that with the COVID-19 test, there can be negatives even though a patient acquires the same symptoms as someone with COVID-19. Or a false negative when someone gets tested for the virus once, tests negative, then gets tested again, and is positive. Are these false negatives or negatives actually a inconsistency in the test or a copycat virus?
the tests are very specific to the virus, so no, copycat viruses will not be detected by the tests. no test is 100% accurate and the more tests that are done, the higher % of false negatives