Having rapid COVID-19 test kits available at stores would not effectively block community spread of the virus, as people might not report the results, the New Power Party (NPP) said yesterday.
NPP Legislator Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華) hosted an online news conference after the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Saturday last week approved five rapid test kits for sale.
Three of the products were imported from the US, one from South Korea and the other is made in Taiwan, with their accuracy rates ranging from 85 to 97 percent, the ministry said.
Photo: Wu Shu-wei, Taipei Times
Test kits have been available at convenience and drug stores since Tuesday, while supermarket chain Pxmart began selling them yesterday.
NPP spokeswoman Wu Pei-yu (吳佩芸), who is also a pharmacist, said that the government does not have a mechanism for people to report test results, while false positives or negatives might create an infection loophole.
“People might not report negative results, which might actually be false negatives,” Wu said. “In such cases, they might inadvertently be virus spreaders in their community.”
Although people who purchase rapid test kits at convenience stores and supermarkets are referred to pharmacies if they have questions, pharmacists might not be familiar with kits that they do not stock, she said.
Importers submitted performance reports from other countries when they applied for permissions to sell their kits in Taiwan, Chen said.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should collect local data to ensure that test results are as accurate as the manufacturers claim, she said.
Chien Chia-hung (錢嘉宏), deputy head of the FDA’s medical devices and cosmetics division, said that test kits should be easy to use, while manufacturers are required to provide written and video instructions online, as well as contact information.
Written instructions should contain a QR code to video instructions, Chien said.
“Pharmacists are not obligated to consult people if they are asked about a test kit that they do not stock,” he said.
Test results can be skewed if people do not follow the instructions properly or kits were not properly stored, Chien said.
People are encouraged to review government-approved test kits on the FDA Web site as well as instructions before they make a purchase, he said, adding that consumers and medical institutions should report defective products.
Manufacturers should regularly submit data to the FDA, he said.
“Rapid test kits for COVID-19 are not must-have household items, and test results are more useful in areas with relatively more confirmed cases,” Chien said.
Moreover, people “should go to community screening stations immediately if they have symptoms indicating possible COVID-19 infection,” he said.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
As COVID-19 cases in Japan have been increasing for 10 consecutive weeks, people should get vaccinated before visiting the nation, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said. The centers reported 773 hospitalizations and 124 deaths related to COVID-19 in Taiwan last week. CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Director Guo Hung-wei (郭宏偉) on Tuesday said the number of weekly COVID-19 cases reported in Japan has been increasing since mid-May and surpassed 55,000 cases from July 8 to July 14. The average number of COVID-19 patients at Japan’s healthcare facilities that week was also 1.39 times that of the week before and KP.3 is the dominant
The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) working group for Taiwan-related policies is likely to be upgraded to a committee-level body, a report commissioned by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said. As Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is increasingly likely to upgrade the CCP’s Central Leading Group for Taiwan Affairs, Taiwanese authorities should prepare by researching Xi and the CCP, the report said. At the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the CCP, which ended on Thursday last week, the party set a target of 2029 for the completion of some tasks, meaning that Xi is likely preparing to
US-CHINA TRADE DISPUTE: Despite Beijing’s offer of preferential treatment, the lure of China has dimmed as Taiwanese and international investors move out Japan and the US have become the favored destinations for Taiwanese graduates as China’s attraction has waned over the years, the Ministry of Labor said. According to the ministry’s latest income and employment advisory published this month, 3,215 Taiwanese university graduates from the class of 2020 went to Japan, surpassing for the first time the 2,881 graduates who went to China. A total of 2,300 graduates from the class of 2021 went to the US, compared with the 2,262 who went to China, the document showed. The trend continued for the class of 2023, of whom 1,460 went to Japan, 1,334 went to