Answers in 20 mins – No lab required!

Usually R250, use our R50 discount for 60 years+

Each test comes with a free certificate!

Only using reliable & certified Rapid Antigen tests

Book our Rapid COVID-19 Antigen Test now!

We want to make our community safer for those that need it most.

Epicentre offers this discount at cost to our organization, as this discount is not part of any study. We simply want to make COVID testing easier to those that research shows are most at risk for a dangerous COVID infection.

Get this discount at any of Epicentre’s branches. You can get these high quality discounted COVID Rapid Antigen tests in:

✔ Hillcrest, KwaZulu-Natal.

✔ Rondebosch (Cape Town), Western Cape.

✔ Randburg (Johannesburg), Gauteng.

Antigen tests, like the name suggests, test for antigens. An COVID-19 Antigen test basically looks for fragments of COVID-19 antigens within a person’s body to see if they’re infected with the virus.

“An antigen is a substance recognized by the body’s immune system, which can [then] respond by generating proteins called antibodies that specifically recognize that antigen,” Albert Shaw, MD, a Yale Medicine infectious disease doctor and professor of medicine at Yale School of Medicine

That basically means, “the point of an antigen test is to detect the presence of a protein—the nucleocapsid protein—which is part of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that is the cause of COVID-19.” [Dr Shaw].

To do an Antigen test for COVID-19 with Epicentre, you will need to either book a test online or just pop in to one of our branches.

The way a COVID-19 Antigen test works is similar to a PCR COVID-19 test. We will have a nurse open a new Antigen Test packet. We will then use a new nasal saw to collect a nasal cavity swab.

Our nurses are very gentle and whilst the test will be over quickly, we will do our best to make you feel calm and safe during the entire process.

This swab will “then be placed into a special solution for virus detection,” says Dr. Shaw.

You will then wait 20 minutes while your test ‘loads’ your results. After which we will share your result with you.

Having an Antigen test is helpful if:

You have recently started symptoms of COVID-19

Your doctor thinks you may have the novel coronavirus and have recently started (1-3) symptoms ago

You have been in close contact with an individual suspected of or confirmed to have COVID-19 more than 5-7 days ago, and you want to have a quick test done to check your status

You have been exposed to COVID-19 and started symptoms more than 3 days ago.

Please check with your airline, travel agent or doctor if you are having this test done for an official purpose such as international flights or a medical procedure:

👉 Epicentre provides official, recognized certification – but this method of testing has not yet been approved for all purposes in all countries.

An Antigen Test is looking for antigen fragments, you will have the most fragments when you have the most COVID virus in your body.

👉 This stage can be seen on the graph, when the purple block is highest. It is therefore easiest to pick up an infection you are at your peak infectiousness 2-3 days before your symptoms start to 2-3 days after your symptoms begin.

The testing period ends 3 to 4 days after your symptoms start.

This can clearly be seen on the chart above, as the purple bars represent the amount of virus in your body. You can see how the amount of virus shoots up suddenly at day 0 (when your incubation period ends) and drops off suddenly after 3-4 days of symptoms.