Technologies

Need a COVID-19 test? Buy one of these at-home collection kits

PCR and rapid antigen coronavirus tests you can take at home.

For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.

At-home COVID-19 tests are an important tool to protect others if you get sick during the pandemic, especially as new COVID-19 variants spread around the world. These easy to administer tests can spare you a trip to a test clinic or doctor, so you can avoid spreading germs.

The US Food and Drug Administration began granting emergency use authorizations for at-home collection kits in May 2020, and consumers have many different choices. Heck, you can even order one from DoorDash now.

After trying many at-home COVID-19 tests, I found that my overall experience was more or less the same with each test. I navigated to the website, took the symptom screening if there was one, put in my personal information, checked out and waited for the test to arrive. When the test was delivered, I followed the instructions to register the kit, collect my sample and ship the specimen back.

I didn’t have any particularly great or horrendous experiences with any of these testing companies, so I don’t necessarily recommend any one in particular. Only a couple stand out, including the new Ellume COVID-19 test, which is the first rapid at-home test with an EUA from the FDA.

The best at-home COVID-19 test for you ultimately depends on cost, whether your insurance, FSA or HSA covers the cost, and your preferred collection method (saliva sample or nasal swab).

Nonetheless, it’s worth knowing the small differentiators between the 10 coronavirus tests you can get without a doctor, which I describe here.

Who should take an at-home COVID-19 test?

At-home COVID-19 tests aren’t appropriate for everyone. Regardless of which brand you choose, it takes several days to a week to get your results from the time you order the test. Some people may require quicker test results due to their work or home environment, symptoms or other factors.

An at-home coronavirus test is appropriate for those who:

Have known or suspected exposure to COVID-19 (with or without symptoms) and can stay home until they get their test results.
Have mild-to-moderate symptoms and can quarantine until they receive a negative result or symptoms disappear for several days.

The common denominator? People must be able to stay at home while they await their test results. If you can’t stay home until you have a positive test (for example, if your employer requires it), or you need quicker results for any other reason, an at-home COVID-19 test is not right for you.

More for the health-minded

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Saturday, June 7

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for June 7.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword could be tricky. 1-Down and 5-Down stumped me for a while, but the other letters filled it in for me. Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Read on. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

The Mini Crossword is just one of many games in the Times’ games collection. If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.

Mini across clues and answers

1A clue: Yoga class need
Answer: MAT

4A clue: Umlaut, rotated 90°
Answer: COLON

6A clue: «That is shocking!»
Answer: OHMYGOD

8A clue: «___ You the One?» (reality TV show)
Answer: ARE

9A clue: Egg cells
Answer: OVA

10A clue: One of two «royal» sleeping options
Answer: KINGBED

12A clue: Bar seating
Answer: STOOL

13A clue: Favorite team of the «Chicago Pope,» for short
Answer: SOX

Mini down clues and answers

1D clue: Slices of life
Answer: MOMENTS

2D clue: Olympic gymnast Raisman
Answer: ALY

3D clue: Request at the end of a restaurant meal
Answer: TOGOBOX

4D clue: Hayes of MSNBC
Answer: CHRIS

5D clue: Medium for Melville or McCarthy
Answer: NOVEL

6D clue: Wood used for wine barrels
Answer: OAK

7D clue: June honoree
Answer: DAD

11D clue: Sticky stuff
Answer: GOO

How to play more Mini Crosswords

The New York Times Games section offers a large number of online games, but only some of them are free for all to play. You can play the current day’s Mini Crossword for free, but you’ll need a subscription to the Times Games section to play older puzzles from the archives.

Technologies

Despite War of Words, Trump May Funnel Billions to Musk’s Starlink With BEAD Changes

Technologies

Square Enix’s Next Game Blends Among Us-Like Murder Mystery With Bloody Carnage

Unveiled at Summer Game Fest, Killer Inn is an upcoming multiplayer murder mystery pitting players against each other in the search for the true killers.

Bet you didn’t have this one on your bingo list. Developed by Tactic Studios in partnership with Square Enix, the game was unveiled during the Summer Game Fest livestream, and it’s far from the famed RPG maker’s bread and butter. Killer Inn, as it’s called, is a multiplayer murder mystery that takes Among Us-like gameplay and ratchets it up by handing players knives, guns and many other weapons to kill or be killed while they search for the original killer.

Killer Inn might be one of those games that is best understood after playing a few matches, but even from the reveal trailer, there’s a lot going on. In each match, 24 players enter a sprawling castle-turned-hotel to determine who the real killers are as they’re picked off one by one. There’s deduction and mayhem aplenty.

Killer Inn’s play phases are patterned after detective-style games, from Among Us to Ultimate Werewolf to Mafia. A match begins with most players as cooperative participants («lambs,» in Killer Inn’s parlance) mixed with a few secret killers («wolves»). Players complete tasks to earn tokens redeemable for items and weapons, while the killers quietly go about their business — until someone discovers a body. On the corpse are clues left by the killer, so the lambs can try deducing the true culprit (or culprits).

Then it’s all about collecting clues and identifying the wolves — but unlike Among Us, there’s no group discussion to present evidence or vote them out. Killer Inn skips the parlor scene and dives straight into action: If you’re sure someone’s the killer, take them out. Use those token-bought guns and blades to put down the villain. Unless you accidentally murder one of your innocent teammates — in which case, you’re turned to stone for the rest of the match. Bummer.

Lambs have another win condition: assembling four keys to escape on the ship that brought them to the murder island. There are other mechanics, too, like finding relative safety in rooms with hotel staff, who will identify any wolves that kill lambs in their line of sight.

Players can choose between 25 premade characters that each have their own unique appearances and abilities, the latter of which improve as the match goes on, often reflecting the nefarious dark sides of the participants. For example, Winston is a surgeon who kills more efficiently with knives and, when leveled up, deals extra damage while covered in blood. The Otaku, by contrast, gains 25 HP from finding clues and eventually builds resistance to status effects. Levels don’t carry over between matches — everyone starts fresh at level one.

Killer Inn doesn’t have a release date, but the game will kick off a closed beta test over Steam in the near future.