Health Emergency Operation Centre (HEOC) has stated a guideline will soon be published regarding the use of COVID-19 antigen tests in the Maldives.
Speaking at the daily press briefing, Spokesperson of HEOC Dr. Fathimath Nazla Rafeeq noted the BinaxNOW COVID-19 AG Card or the rapid antigen test kit, which detects the presence of the virus within 15 minutes, has been introduced to the Maldives by local medical supplier, Medtech Maldives Private Limited. The spokesperson said Health Protection Agency (HPA) is currently reviewing the antigen test kits with respect to the guidelines of the World Health Organisation (WHO) before recommending the test. Noting the antigen test cannot be undertaken by just anybody, unlike the PCR test, Dr. Nazla said HPA will publish the guideline on using the antigen test very soon.
The portable COVID-19 antigen test kits have been produced by the Abbott Laboratories of the U.S. The test kits use nasal swabs for testing, with 97.1% sensitivity and 98.5% specificity. Abbott Laboratories has also introduced a mobile application to display the test results. The test kits are currently in use in the US as well as Europe.
The main method of COVID-19 testing currently practiced in the Maldives is PCR testing. However, HEOC has recently announced antibody testing will be launched in October as part of a study to identify the percentage of the population which has been exposed to COVID-19.