Coles and Woolworths to sell at-home COVID-19 test kits starting next week
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Coles and Woolworths to sell at-home COVID-19 test kits starting next week
Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths will be selling rapid testing kits, making COVID-19 testing more accessible for Australians.
The two supermarket chains will make the Chinese-manufactured Hough Pharma Covid Antigen Nasal Test available in-stores as soon as next week.
The 15-minute turnaround kits are one of the eight rapid antigen tests approved for use in Australia by the Therapeutic and Goods Administration.
Supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths will sell TGA-approved rapid testing kits, making COVID-19 testing more accessible to Aussies. Credit: AAP.
Meanwhile, Woolworths told the Sydney Morning Herald that they will make the kits available in selected stores from November.
Woolies will roll out stocks in states and territories with ongoing outbreaks with ACT, NSW, and Victoria at the top of the list.
Coles is set to make the at-home test kits first, rolling stocks over their stores starting next week. Credit: AAP.
Starting November 1, Aussies will be allowed to make use of one of the eight TGA-approved rapid testing kits to test themselves of COVID-19 at home.
Until then, only healthcare staff in workplaces, hospitals, and aged care homes are allowed to conduct rapid antigen testing.
TGA head professor John Skerrit, said that although the regulator was working with state and territory leaders to fast track the approval of the tests last month, the government deliberately delayed the approval of the tests in Australia until vaccination rates were higher.
The justification behind the delay is the potential for false negatives or people hiding test results. The possible consequences for these cases would be less critical if most of the population was vaccinated.
Founder and managing director of Respond Global Dr Ian Norton expressed his hopes for the state governments to move quickly on working out how to use rapid testing data to improve outbreak control.
'I am not sure how the states are getting involved in this conversation and how over-the-counter testing can be used in a positive way,' he said.
'We should look at a form of recording [data] similar to in the UK, where people upload their rapid test results online to the public health system.'
Overseas, the kits have been in use to assist people who are travelling overseas and are returning to their workplaces for months.
In fact, in Britain, the at-home kits are being used by people before visiting elderly relatives or going on a big night out.
Are you going to use these rapid test kits once they are available for purchase? Tell us in the comments below.
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