Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton
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Dr. Christopher Tufton
A private laboratory has now been accredited by the Ministry of Health to do tests for COVID-19.
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton made the disclosure Wednesday.
"I think there is one now that is able to do so and there are one or two others, so we would like to see more because it certainly would take the stresses off the government institutions and there is a market there that is willing to pay for these tests," he said.
Last month, it was reported that there had been a setback in having private tests for COVID-19 as one of the laboratories seeking accreditation did not meet all the requirements.
Rapid test kits
In the meantime, the Health Minister said clinicians are now recommending the move towards using rapid test kits in detecting COVID-19 cases.
The rapid test produces results in 15 minutes.
Dr. Tufton was responding to calls from the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association and experts in the medical fraternity for the health authorities to expand the COVID-19 evaluation regime.
JHTA President Omar Robinson said this will allow for a faster turnaround time for results for travellers.
Dr. Tufton said the assessment of the most accurate rapid antigen test kit has started.
"Now that we have the community transmission, there is value in using that approach and we are now assessing because there are so many tests out there - many of them are experimental, many of them are not validated by the respected agencies and many of them have significant margins of error and the authorities would like to put, or if they approve any, that would give greater guarantees. So it is a matter of time. It will happen. We just have to find the right tests and the right protocols around testing," he declared.
He was speaking Wednesday on the Morning Agenda on Power 106.
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