The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) is negotiating with manufacturers to buy 8 million more COVID-19 rapid test kits, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday, amid growing calls for more affordable at-home testing and an increase in local infections.
Taiwan has reported more than 100 locally transmitted COVID-19 cases every day over the past 10 days, causing demand for rapid test kits to soar.
Lawmakers have demanded that the government form a “national rapid testing team” to provide free at-home kits, modeled after the mask rationing scheme implemented early in the COVID-19 pandemic.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
Speaking at a news conference in Taipei yesterday, New Power Party (NPP) Chairwoman Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) suggested that rapid test kits be provided free of charge until the situation stabilizes and that their prices be brought closer to global standards afterward.
For example, the UK offered free tests by mail during its lockdown, she said, adding that tests are now available for ￡2 (US$2.60) each.
South Korea similarly nationalized rapid testing equipment during the peak of its outbreak in February, offering them for 6,000 won (US$4.88) and outlawing resales at higher prices, she said.
Taiwan’s tests, on the other hand, cost NT$300 to NT$400 (US$10.37 to US$13.84) each, yet the government has not required manufacturers to sell them to the government at cost, even as demand soars, Chen Jiau-hua added.
Other NPP politicians emphasized the financial burden this particularly places on low-income households, which need to purchase multiple tests for each family member, as well as younger people working in low-paying service jobs with a higher risk of coming into contact with confirmed cases.
Chen Shih-chung told a daily CECC news briefing that work is under way to bring prices down, adding that in the meantime, high-risk areas can apply to provide free rapid tests.
Chen Shih-chung, who heads the CECC, last week said the government “would not rule out” requisitioning test kits to bring costs down.
Earlier in the day during an appearance at Gikong Presbyterian Church in Taipei, he touted rapid home testing as the best tool the public has in fighting the pandemic.
The accuracy of rapid tests has improved considerably, with a false positive rate comparable to polymerase chain reaction testing, he added.
Asked about Chen Jiau-hua’s recommendations, the minister said that preparations are under way.
Additional reporting by Chiu Chih-jou
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