Roadblock Covid test to take minutes

• New antigen test kits deployed
• Easy-to-operate, less-invasive
• 15-minute rapid detection

By Daniel Kachere

Government will use one of the latest technologies to screen for Covid-19 at roadblocks and checkpoints where healthcare workers are set to be deployed as part of efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
Health professionals are joining members of the security services on the roads in order to screen essential service personnel and members of the public who still have to travel during the lockdown period.
This comes as Government seeks to reduce rising cases of infections and deaths that have seen the whole country being declared a Covid-19 hotspot.
Chief Co-ordinator of the national response to the Covid-19 pandemic in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Dr Agnes Mahomva, told Nhau that Government had adopted new World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which entail use of antigen test kits.
“When people are screened, you are taking the temperature, checking their coughing and whether they have signs and symptoms basically,” she said.
“It is these people with signs and symptoms that are being targeted in terms of testing … the nation recently adopted the new World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines which are use of antigen test kits.
“These can actually be used to test those who have signs and symptoms. We are not using the rapid diagnostic testing (RDT) that was used for antibodies as this did not really tell you much. We have adopted the idea of using the antigen kits that give you results almost there and then.”
Released in June 2020, the new Covid-19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit (Colloidal Gold) is a lateral flow immunoassay for the qualitative detection of SARS-COV-2 antigen (nucleocapsid protein) in upper respiratory samples with nasal swabs or saliva during the acute phase of infection.
According to the manufacturers, the features of the antigen test kit include a 15-minute rapid detection, easy-to-operate coronavirus antigen test and less-invasive nasal (NS) swab sample collection.
Said Dr Mahomva: “That is what we are using in a number of institutions and quarantine centres where we screen and identify those with signs and symptoms so that we are ready to detect the cases and manage them accordingly.”
Dr Mahomva said they were working with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Health and Child Care to finalise modalities that will be put in place.
She said from a technical point in terms of testing, the new adopted guidelines from WHO will enable health officials to test in more places than before.
As of yesterday, Zimbabwe had 24 256 confirmed cases, including 13 658 recoveries and 589 deaths. Of these deaths, Harare had the highest of 211. Yesterday’s records showed that 20 people died within 24 hours.
Bulawayo had a total of 132 with five having died in the last 24 hours. Matabeleland north is the least with seven deaths since March last year.
Government has expressed concern over the wanton disregard of laid down regulations by some members of the public since the current Level 4 national lockdown came into effect on January 5.
According to statistics released by Acting Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Jenfan Muswere, police arrested 309 061 people countrywide for flouting lockdown regulations, indicating an increase of 16 286, from the 292 775 recorded in the last briefing by the national ad hoc committee on Covid-19.
Muswere expressed concern that within a week almost 10 000 people had been arrested for violating Covid-19 restrictions.
“What is worrying is that within a week, 9 993 people were arrested for not wearing masks and this points to negligence by some members of society who are not taking this virus seriously and this calls for behaviour change,” Muswere said.
Government is also concerned that the Covid-19 recovery rate plummeted considerably from 80,6 percent to 57,6 percent. Nhau/Indaba