Covid testing, including Rapid Antigen testing, will be available in the Tararua once stocks arrive but the demand has meant some are unsure of a timeframe. Photo / NZME
Covid testing, including Rapid Antigen testing, will be available in the Tararua once stocks arrive but the demand has meant some are unsure of a timeframe. Photo / NZME
Those worried about Covid in Tararua will soon be able to get Rapid Antigen tests.
Tararua Health Group and Dannevirke Pharmacy have ordered the tests but demand has meant they are unsure when they will be available.
MidCentral District Health Board had said RATs will be available at pop-up testing sites in Palmerston North and Levin.
Dannevirke Pharmacy owner Hamish Pankhurst said the tests would be available for general sale, once he had stock, costing a maximum of $9 per test.
He had already had a number of queries about them but was unsure when they would be in store as there had been some hold-ups.
Tararua Health Group is expecting some Rapid Antigen Tests. Photo / Leanne Warr
Tararua Health Group operations manager Samantha Chapman said the health centres would be getting the tests and offering them as the primary method of testing.
"There will still be access for PCR testing [swabs] as there will be some situations this is clinically indicated."
Chapman said she had a large shipment of tests on order and it was expected "imminently".
There would be unsupervised RATs, where patients could collect the tests and take them home and supervised RATs, where practice staff would administer the nasal swab and process the test.
Results would then be available after the 15-minute processing time.
Chapman said the supervised tests would be helpful for parents who were uncomfortable with testing their own children or those with health concerns that make it difficult to do the test and those who would prefer someone did it for them.
She said they would likely offer supervised and unsupervised RATs drive-through as they had done for swabbing across group sites.
"Once the RATs arrive, we will be able to trial how this will work and iron the process and testing times out so we can communicate this with the community."
People were reminded that testing should be performed for anyone who was symptomatic or a household contact of a confirmed case on day three or day 10 as clinically directed.
Rangitane o Tamaki nui-a-Rua had also been offering Covid tests using RATs.
As of yesterday, Tararua had 32 active Covid cases. MidCentral DHB was only updating the numbers by area once a week.
The Ministry of Health today reported 260 new cases in the MidCentral rohe, and three people in hospital.
