7 News Belize

Rapid Testing Paves The Way To The Future
posted (August 28, 2020)
And a part of that clear headed-ness about October first is what seems to be an excessive amount of confidence the Prime Minister is putting in a new type of testing module called the Antigen Rapid Test from Abbott labs. It promises cheap and fast testing and the US company has been approved by the FDA for for productions of tens of millions of tests.

For the PM, the advent of this creates all kinds of opportunities, both for Belizeans and tourists - and it was the centrepiece of his presentation today. Today, he explained how the use of the rapid test in Belize will make for faster turnaround times for those whose samples are taken using the biosensor antigen rapid test:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow - Prime Minister
"What this means is that I am able to announce today that starting perhaps as soon as the samples come back from the sweep that being done in the north this weekend by the health workers, perhaps as soon as that when we see that there are positives, we will begin to use one of the biosensor antigen rapid test as part of our testing regime. The particular biosensor antigen rapid test that we will use produces results in 15-30 minutes. It needs no operating equipment. There are some of them that come with a little machine that does the processing. This one that we are using is all together self-contained. Using the antigen rapid test in the way I have describe will provide substantial relief both to those doing the testing and to those being tested. It is I think, an absolute step forward. It is a clear positive for us to be able now to say we will use the antigen rapid test which once there is any sense of a return to the overcrowding will provide us with the relief we need. We can therefore this afternoon reassure the public that the days of waiting unduly long to be tested, the days on waiting an unduly long to get the results once you are tested - those days are pretty much behind us."

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