Although approximately 700 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) test kits have arrived in the country, persons will not be tested unless they meet the criteria outlined by the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), Deputy Chief Medical Officer Karen Gordon-Boyle has said.
Gordon-Boyle told Stabroek News yesterday that the MoPH has no intention of testing persons unless they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms and have been in contact with persons who have tested positive for the disease or have recently travelled from a country that is known to have cases of the respiratory disease.
MoPH received 700 COVID-19 testing kits and 400 screening kits from the Pan-American Health Organization and the World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) recently. PAHO/WHO country representative Dr. William Adu-Krow told Stabroek News on Monday that the tests should last for a few months. However, plans are being made to make more tests available for the country.