The Opposition APNU+AFC believes that the latest change to the COVID-19 testing regimen, is an attempt by the government to reduce the number of daily tests done.
In a statement which was posted to the APNU+AFC’s Facebook page, from the office of the leader of the opposition, it was stated that the coalition has noted the decision of the Ministry of Health to restrict the use of COVID-19 PCR tests and says that the decision confirms that the government has no plan to tackle and reduce the spread of the virus.
Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony earlier this week had said that not everyone who shows up at a COVID-19 testing facility would require a PCR test and as such, the ministry will move to only conduct PCR tests for persons who are hospitalised along with other categories which include persons who work in high-risk settings and persons who were recommended for tests by a physician.
According to the opposition, the move by the government is one that allows for the reduction in reporting of the number of positive cases seen daily and as such the public will no longer see the true spread of COVID-19 in the country. In addition, it was noted that the move also forces persons away from public facilities to private centres where they will have to pay to be tested.
“The COVID-19 numbers are drastically out of control and further exposes the PPP’s incompetence. Their only strategy now is to attempt to show a reduction in the numbers by testing less and hiding the real numbers from the public,” the statement said. Further, the government should be boosting capacity to do more daily testing so as to be aware of the COVID-19 situation and make informed decisions.
The coalition in the statement says that the rapid spread of the virus comes as a result of, “the government’s incompetence.” It was further noted that there were no measures put in place to reduce or stop travel from certain countries upon learning that the Omicron variant was in neighbouring Brazil and Caribbean countries.
Meanwhile the Minister of Health yesterday during his daily COVID-19 update, stated that health authorities have to make sure that the testing resources are being used properly and that the population that really needs to be tested are targeted.
He added that persons who are symptomatic that go to a testing facility will be administered an antigen test and if the result returned is positive, they will not be retested with a PCR as was previously done.
“For PCR we are putting that for the patients, prioritizing that for patients who really need to be checked with PCR, those include the people who are in hospital, persons who are coming to accident and emergency or our outpatient departments, persons who are in high risk settings, or any other persons one of the clinicians feels should be tested for COVID-19 using PCR,” the minister explained.
Dr Anthony went on to say that this is important as persons are coming forward to be tested who have not been exposed or have no symptoms and as a result are causing a backlog in the testing system.
