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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Quickstatus" data-source="post: 2319855" data-attributes="member: 49035">Depends on whether the Covid PCR primer used is valid for OmicronSo it is never 100% sure with a new variant. (Though it now appears to be still good)Basically there are 2 primers used (IIRC) for a Covid PCR test. Both code for the RNA which code for the "N" section of the covid virus.Any major changes to the Virus through mutation could possibly change the accuracy of the PCR.In the case of Omicron it appears that most of the mutations are on the RNA coding for the S section meaning the N section is still stable enough to mean that the standard Covid test still works.It is not difficult to get a primer specifically for Omicron  but this means running more than one PCR test on the same sample because you dont know which variant will be positive.PCR primer: a short DNA sequence of about 8-10 nucleotides used to detect specific sequences in a PCR sample.</blockquote>