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Health Ministry orders 20,000 antigen tests for hinterlands
– to produce COVID-19 results within minutes
Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony
Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Health has placed an order for 20,000 antigen tests which will be sent to selected hinterland regions to improve their testing capacity.
The announcement was made by Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony during his delivery of the COVID-19 update on Wednesday. The Minister disclosed that the antigen tests will produce faster results for persons being tested for COVID-19 within the specified hinterland regions.
Minister Anthony said that despite the testing capacity being increased at the National Public Health Reference Laboratory in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), testing in remote areas still takes time since they have to be transported from the hinterlands, to the lab in Georgetown. The lab’s testing capacity was increased when the government acquired a $7.2 million automated extractor, which can process up to 96 tests samples within two-three hours.
The Minister said that the antigen tests are expected to arrive in November and once they arrive, they will be immediately be deployed to the areas in need. It was stated that the antigen test is faster than other tests being used, making it practical for use in remote hinterland areas.
“This is not the RTPCR tests that we take samples of and bring them to the lab. This antigen test is one where right at the site where you’re seeing the patient if you suspect them to have COVID, you can run the test there and within 45 minutes get back the results,” Dr. Anthony explained.
Dr. Anthony previously disclosed to Kaieteur News that hinterland regions like Region Nine (Upper Takatu- Upper Essequibo) were having difficulties taking test samples to the Reference Lab and returning them in a timely fashion.
It was also explained that the difficulty in transporting the test samples contributed to the previous backlog of cases. To tackle the issue the Health Minister sought to engage with authorities from Roraima in Brazil since it is very close to Region Nine and it was found that they have a lab that can do Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) tests which would see test results returning to the region swiftly.
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