CINCINNATI (WKRC) - Hamilton County Public Health Medical Director Dr. Steve Feagins says the antigen tests were authorized for symptomatic people to detect COVID-19. Now, they're being used in many more circumstances.

“[The tests] are also being used for people who may have exposure [to the virus.] For people who want to go to a party or people who want to go to a concert [and need] a negative test. Again, as with anything else, it's very much how good the sample is,” Dr. Feagins said.

Dr. Feagins warns one negative antigen test shouldn't be enough to clear you. He says you should have two negative results.

"Unfortunately, that period of time between the two should be more like two or three days rather than a day or even a few hours, very similar to how we rule out many things in terms of two negatives," Dr. Feagins said.

Local 12 asked about the effectiveness of programs like Test to Stay for people who may be unvaccinated and have a test requirement for work?

"It feels like the pandemic starting all over because there are a lot of well-meaning individuals and all levels who are trying to come up with ways that we can do things, and so Test to Stay is one of those things and why, until something better comes along, that's what we have," said Dr. Feagins.

Dr. Feagins says he is against trying to use PCR tests for programs like Test to Stay simply because there are not enough PCR tests to keep up with demand.

One positive note for the antigen tests is, so far, they appear to be equally good at detecting all the variants of the virus.