Rapid antigen tests on New Zealand supermarket shelves are "trustworthy", a clinical microbiologist and virologist says.
Professor Anja Werno from Otago University spoke to Breakfast after some RATs were pulled from shelves in Australia after they were found to be less sensitive to new variants of Covid-19.
RATs pulled from shelves by Australian regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration include the CovClear, NowCheck, COVIFIND and the BD Veritor System for Rapid Detection tests.
The PCL COVID19 Rapid test has been suspended while it remains under investigation.
Werno told Breakfast while RATs are “a lot less sensitive, or a lot less sensitive and specific than PCR tests”, Covid variants including Delta and Omicron were “picked up reasonably well by a large bunch of those RAT tests”.
“However, it is fair to say that not all are equal, that you actually have to undergo testing to verify that they actually pick up what’s circulating currently in the community.”
Werno said that most countries, including Australia and New Zealand, carry out tests at designated laboratories to ensure new Covid variants are being picked up, and the tests taken off shelves in Australia would have failed these tests.
In comparison, the New Zealand Government has “quite a tight control over the tests that they’ve allowed to be used” in the country, Werno said.
“What we’ve got on the shelves in New Zealand is trustworthy – bearing in mind they’re never going to be quite as good as a PCR test – but neither do they have to be because New Zealand, as well as most places in the world, have now got the virus as part of their makeup, circulating in the community so we’re not eliminating anymore, we’re trying to control the spread and for that, the focus on the most infectious people is what we’re looking for,” she said.
Werno said there is “not much evidence” to suggest RATS on sale in New Zealand are detecting new Covid-19 variants.
But she said: “If we do see that, then I’m absolutely sure that will be addressed by withdrawing those who don’t pick them up from the market and introducing those who can pick them”.
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