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A referral for a PCR test will also be issued to individuals who test positive for a rapid antigen test performed by a licensed healthcare provider. This was announced by the press center of the Ministry of Health / MH /.
The change is recorded in the contract signed today to modify the National Framework Agreement for medical activities between the National Health Insurance Fund and the Bulgarian Medical Union for 2020-2022.
The change in NSAs came after GPs have so far been unable to issue referrals for PCR testing to people who have positive antigen tests because they are believed to have already been diagnosed. Hospitals refused to admit patients with suspected coronavirus without a PCR test. This created a bureaucratic cycle and many problems related to isolation and quarantine, hospital admission, hospitalization, and last but not least statistics.
Our country does not recognize the results of antigen tests, because currently the Covid-19 case definition is applied, valid throughout the EU, according to which the laboratory confirmation of Covid-19 is carried out by the method of PCR. In view of this, all restrictive measures (isolation and quarantine) are in accordance with the officially established order.
Last month, the European Commission adopted recommendations for the use of rapid antigen tests for Covid-19, urging that they be performed in addition to PCR tests to slow the spread of the virus, detect infections and limit measures such as quarantine. Rapid antigen test kits are less accurate than standard PCR tests, but can deliver results in minutes, as opposed to days of waiting for PCR test results, which can be a key tool in the fight against the main coronaviruses. outbreaks, the Commission noted.
