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Fact check: Can COVID-19 tests be tricked by the influenza virus and other questions answered
coronavirus pandemic, but now that flu season is upon us, it’s time to fact check some myths. If you have influenza and get a COVID-19 test, that test will come back positive for COVID-19.The type of test that Canada is using, the nasal swab test, is specifically designed to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19.The test does this by detecting a very specific genetic sequence in SARS-CoV-2, a genetic sequence that influenza and common cold viruses do not have.“These genes provide viruses with proteins that allow them to make more copies of themselves, dictate which types of cells they can infect, and can interfere with the circuitry that our cells use to mount immune responses against them,” said Dr.