Covid 19 Omicron outbreak: Expert says critical worker RATs rollout faces ‘accessibility issues’

February 1 2022 Deputy PM Grant Roberson says the Government has ordered enough new rapid antigen test kits (RATS) to get the country through any looming Omicron outbreak.

A Covid-19 expert has praised the Government’s purchase of millions of new rapid antigen tests (RATs) but one health official says accessibility issues will need to be addressed.

Earlier this afternoon, the Government said it has ordered enough new RATs to get the country through any looming Omicron outbreak.

As New Zealand approached what some hoped might be the tail-end of the pandemic, 36 million extra RATs had been secured, Associate Minister of Health Dr Ayesha Verrall said.

Many will be used in a “test to return” policy, she said.

This policy was aimed at asymptomatic critical workers – so hospitals, supermarkets and other essential services could keep operating.

Dr Dion O’Neale is a mathematician at Te Punaha Matatini University of Auckland. Photo / Supplied

Te Pūnaha Matatini complex systems researcher Dr Dion O’Neale welcomed the announcement, saying it would be a “big help” as the country attempts to manage the growing number of Omicron cases.

“Although RATs are not as sensitive as PCR tests, they have the big advantage that they can return a result in minutes rather than days.

“This is important because it means that it is possible to potentially confirm infections much sooner after exposure, and for people to respond accordingly by self-isolating in order to break any further chains of transmission,” he said

While the risk of Omicron remains, O’Neale said these tests will allow people to return safely back to the workplace.

“While not free from risk, the use of RATs to allow people to determine that they are likely to be safe to return to work following an exposure, or after infection, will help to keep essential services operating at times when the country has very high infection numbers,” he said.

Verrall said New Zealand would actually have access to more than 55 million RATs over the next eight weeks, because 16.9 million other orders were already confirmed.

Meanwhile, Immunologist Dr Dianne Sika-Paotonu warned of “accessibility issues” in the rollout.

“Accessibility issues will need to be addressed to ensure rapid antigen tests can get to those who need them and that appropriate prioritisation occurs to ensure timely access for people given that the overall staged timing for delivery of these rapid antigen tests will occur over the next months.”

Dianne Sika-Paotonu is an University of Otago immunologist. Photo / Supplied

Sika-Paotonu said there must be appropriate prioritisation to ensure there is access for others.

“It is critical we slow down Omicron’s spread throughout our communities for as long as possible and to avoid our hospitals from becoming overwhelmed as they have become in Australia and other countries,” she said.

Only 5.1 million tests were already in the country.

While thousands of young children have already received their first dose for the paediatric Covid-19 vaccine, Sika-Paotonu is concerned by the inequities regarding Māori and Pacific child vaccination numbers.

“Tamariki and tamaiki are lagging behind those from the general population for this age group. An equity focus that reduces barriers and builds trust, will help everyone get the help and services they need at this time.”

While RATs can produce some false positive results, O’Neale said this was a low rate.

“False positives from RATs only become an issue when they are being used in a population with very low prevalence, that is, when we would otherwise expect almost all test results to come back negative.”