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SINGAPORE – Rapid tests at larger events have yet to detect any positive cases of Covid-19, said on Tuesday (November 10) the director of medical services (DMS) at the Ministry of Health, Associate Professor Kenneth Mak .
Singapore is testing the use of these tests as an important part of its strategy to stop the spread of the coronavirus that will allow for larger gatherings in phase three of its reopening, he said.
Rapid antigen tests give results in half an hour, allowing rapid case detection and isolating positive individuals.
“These tests have not yet yielded positive results, but this is consistent with the current situation we have, where the community prevalence rate in Singapore is very low,” said Professor Mak at the virtual briefing of the multi-ministerial working group. (MTF) on Tuesday.
“We have used these pilot (tests) as a means to validate our processes in terms of how we would organize the tests, either on-site or off-site before the event, with certificates issued and then allowing entry to these events.”
The tests were introduced into a pilot scheme late last month and tested at events such as Singapore International Energy Week and the ONE Championship Mixed Martial Arts events.
On the first day of Singapore International Energy Week, swabs at a test station took nasal swabs from 215 participants by inserting a swab approximately 2.5 cm into their nostrils and rotating it several times. The participants waited between 15 and 30 minutes to receive the results, which were sent by SMS.
These rapid antigen tests, provided as part of the pilot program, were free to participants.
Professor Mak said that the pilot tests will continue and grow in scale.
Health Minister Gan Kim Yong said at the same briefing: “We will continue to test different workflows in various settings, such as in more business-to-business events, live performances, as well as spectator sports, and pretests. the event can be part of our strategy against Covid-19 “.
More types of rapid tests will also be tested, said Professor Mak.
“We have been looking at different types of rapid antigen tests, and we hope to expand the arsenal of such tests … so that there is a greater degree of choice and a greater capacity that we will have to allow more of such tests,” he said.
Rapid antigen tests are less accurate than polymerase chain reaction or PCR tests, which are currently used to confirm coronavirus cases and remain the gold standard in testing for Covid-19 today.
Therefore, any positive results obtained from rapid antigen tests will still have to be validated and confirmed by PCR testing, Professor Mak said.
These rapid tests detect specific proteins, known as antigens, on the surface of the virus, while PCR tests detect the genetic material of the coronavirus.
Since these rapid antigen tests do not detect all cases of Covid-19, the same safe handling measures, such as mask use, safe distancing, group size, and capacity limits, still need to be followed at events.
Professor Mak also said that the costs of rapid tests have come down and authorities are looking to see if they can reduce the costs associated with mass testing.
“We are increasing access to these tests by decentralizing and allowing more private test providers to make these tests publicly available,” he said.
“These tests will not be subsidized and the cost will be paid by those who seek these tests in these private laboratories.”
Education Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the multi-ministerial Covid-19 working group, said at the briefing that Singapore is considering whether to make it mandatory for some events to provide rapid antigen testing.
“If and when we make pre-event or pre-entry testing a requirement for certain larger-scale activities to take place in phase three (of Singapore’s reopening), then, in fact, the event organizers they can use antigen testing protocols that are already available on the market at that time, ”he said.
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