https://www. a f r .com/politics/federal/new-plan-to-expand-access-to-rapid-tests-for-covid-19-20210715-p589w8New plan to expand access to rapid tests for COVID-19Major corporations, aged care operators, doctors and government departments will have expanded access to rapid COVID-19 testing, with technology previously used at the Howard Springs quarantine facility rolling out nationally. As Australia works to quash outbreaks from the rapidly spreading delta variant, Melbourne-based diagnostics firm Pantonic Health and Australian pharmaceutical leader Arrotex have partnered to expand access to rapid testing kits for high-risk essential workforces. Similar technology is used widely in countries such as the US, the UK, Singapore and Germany, with users provided access to test results in 10 minutes. The CareStart COVID-19 Antigen rapid test is being used in a trial at an aged care facility in Sydney’s south-west this week. Designed as a first point of detection, CareStart can offer reliable results when used in workplaces where frequent screening is required, including in remote locations, Pantonic Health director Sally Panton said.Less invasive than some COVID-19 tests, it can be used in conjunction with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing. “In our initial supply volume, Pantonic and Arrotex aim to bring even more robust testing and tracing capability to high-risk workers in aged care, hospitals and quarantine settings,” Sally Panton said. Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration and Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration, the kits are made in the United States by AccessBio.We have a robust supply chain in place with the capacity to supply millions of tests each week if required, for a fraction of the cost of PCR tests.— Dennis Bastas, Arrotex chairman and chief executiveMelbourne’s Doherty Institute and health authorities in NSW and Western Australia have validated the efficacy of the CareStart test.Australia’s big miners are among industries already relying on rapid testing. “By quickly identifying infectious cases and thereby breaking chains of transmission, the CareStart antigen test can be effectively used in conjunction with PCR testing to provide an even stronger public health response to Australia’s current COVID-19 outbreak,” Ms Panton said.Rapid testing technology is used by the World Health Organisation and by Australia’s specialist emergency response AUSMAT teams, who have conducted testing in locations that include Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste and Fiji. Supervised self-swabbing via video link is also possible. More than 30,000 CareStart tests have been used at Howard Springs, near Darwin, where returning travellers are being quarantined. Arrotex chairman and chief executive Dennis Bastas described the partnership as a major addition to Australia’s pandemic war chest, set to help in national efforts to live with COVID-19 like Australians do with common infections such as the flu. “With Arrotex providing large scale warehousing, via our partner Sigma, and supply-chain infrastructure for Pantonic’s CareStart Antigen tests, we have capacity to roll this out to an initial group of 80,000 high-risk essential workers who will have immediate access to this much-needed testing approach,” he said. “We have a robust supply chain in place with the capacity to supply millions of tests each week if required, for a fraction of the cost of PCR tests.” Capability for on-arrival testing for returning travellers is planned within the next four to six weeks. “Rapid result testing has been instrumental in countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany and even low-prevalence countries like Singapore to reopen and restart,” Mr Bastas said.“It is our collective plan to work towards an Australia-wide rollout of CareStart COVID-19 Antigen testing via GPs and pharmacists for use within day-to-day public settings.”Australia’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout passed 9.6 million doses administered on Thursday, up by 162,662 in 24 hours.Just 12.5 per cent of the eligible population aged over 16 are fully vaccinated with two doses.
