Rapid Antigen Test Kits used for diagnosing COVID-19 have been distributed to all major hospitals in the country, says Deputy Director-General of Health Services on Laboratory Services, Specialist Dr. RMS Ratnayake.
He said that private hospitals have also been given permission to conduct Rapid Antigen tests in addition to the PCR tests. These procedures are constantly monitored by the government, he added.
He mentioned this at a press conference held in Kandy.
“The Rapid Antigen Test currently costs us around Rs. 1200. In addition to the Rapid Antigen test kits provided to us by the World Health Organization, the government plans to register, test, and use other Rapid Antigen Tests recommended by the World Health Organization as well. Through this we expect prices to come down, especially after reaching a competitive level.
The World Health Organization is expected to deliver the first batch of 100,000 and the next batch of 400,000 Rapid Antigen Test Kits. Currently, we have stocks of about 50,000 test kits.”
