COVID Testing Lab 4Cyte Says New Definition of Close Contact Won’t Relieve Pressure on Testing Site

One of Australia’s largest pathology companies said it did not expect demand for COVID-19 PCR tests to drop significantly, despite changes to the definition of close contact announced yesterday.

On Thursday, the new definition was approved at an extraordinary meeting of the national cabinet.

Now Prime Minister Scott Morrison has said close contact would be someone who has spent four hours or more with a confirmed case in a home or family setting, such as a residential care facility.

These contacts would only be required to quarantine themselves for seven days and undergo a rapid antigen test (RAT) on the sixth day.

He said the new definition would come into effect on December 31 in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and ACT.

The changes were to reduce the pressure on PCR testing centers across the country, which experienced huge queues and long delays during the holiday period.

But 4Cyte medical director Kate Harris said the growth in COVID-19 cases and the scarcity of RAT kits would continue to drive people to PCR testing centers in droves.

“I worked on the [testing] queue yesterday and a family of four traveling to Queensland on January 3 said “we want to get our PCR tests because nobody can buy rapid antigen tests anymore”.

“I was very confused by the announcement of close contact yesterday, and this is where we are all confused, because what is the difference between a fully vaccinated person and an unvaccinated person?”

Doctors fear new definition will miss cases

The Australian Medical Association has expressed fears that the country’s new definition for close contact is simply accelerating the spread of COVID-19.

“Anyone catching Omicron in a restaurant or pub, for example, and who is asymptomatic will not know they are infected and could pass the virus on to more vulnerable people.

“The change will help preserve testing capacity and should limit the number of health workers on leave, but it will come at the cost of accelerating the epidemic.”

A doctor in the western suburbs expressed concern that many of his patients could not access or afford RATs.

Dr Mariam Tokhi said TARs should be distributed free of charge to low-income people.

“We know these are the groups that are suffering the most from COVID-19,” said Dr Tokhi.

“They contract it and they can spread COVID-19 as well, and rapid antigenic testing not only protects the individual but, most importantly, it protects the community around him,” she said.

Rules should reflect new variant, PM says

In announcing the changes, Mr. Morrison said it was an adjustment based on understanding the Omicron variant.

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Duration: 2 minutes 10 seconds2m tens

The strain is the most infectious observed in this country since the start of the pandemic.

Data suggests that it causes less severe disease than previous variants, but exactly how much remains to be confirmed.

“Of course we will see an increase in cases,” Mr. Morrison said.

Across Australia, where the virus has been circulating for less than a month, hospital admissions linked to COVID have increased but not at the same rate as new infections.

“It appears the national cabinet is willing to bet that a massive Omicron outbreak will not result in a large number of hospitalizations,” said Dr Khorshid.

“While the initial data is encouraging, we expect hospitalizations to increase in the coming weeks simply due to the very high number of cases, which will be far greater than positive tests indicate, due to today’s decision. “

Dr Khorshid had previously warned that changing the definition was a bad idea.

“Rapid is testing toilet paper for 2022”

In Victoria, where the state has seen consecutive days of record infections, AMA State Branch Chairman Roderick McRae said it was a “politically timely response. To an “overwhelming capacity for PCR.”

Dr McRae said the new settings appeared to be a response to the Omicron strain but the Delta variant was still there.

He said the settings would go into effect just before “mass market events” such as New Year’s celebrations.

Dr McRae said another problem was the lack of availability of rapid antigenic tests.

States and territories have agreed to only distribute rapid antigenic tests free of charge to those who have symptoms or are contacts of known cases.

“It is very difficult to locate a rapid antigen test, yet we are introducing this rule in eight hours,” he said.

“We therefore need to have a much longer period of time so that the logistics necessary for the arrival of rapid antigen tests in Australia… then be made available.

There have been calls to make RATs free, but Mr Morrison said there were no such plans except for vulnerable groups such as those in nursing homes.

He said the government had been told that providing this certainty to the private pharmacy industry would give the industry the confidence to ensure that RATs were “back on the shelf.”

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