Australia urged to fund free rapid Covid tests as stores sell out
The federal government should fund free or subsidised rapid antigen tests, business and union groups say, as preChristmas Covid testing queues grow and stores sell out of the at-home tests.
Free or at least cheaper tests would not only save businesses from shouldering the cost, it would send a “market signal” to suppliers that Australia was a willing customer and stop shortages.
Since 1 November, Australians have been able to test themselves at home for Covid. The rapid antigen tests are not as accurate as PCR tests but they deliver results much faster and can screen for infections if used regularly.
But many retailers have sold out of the tests and prices have fluctuated as the number of infections increased and people get tested before travel or Christmas gatherings.
At the same time, global supply chain problems are delaying shipments of rapid tests into Australia, while freight prices and border restrictions are delaying transport around the country.
The Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chief executive, Alexi Boyd, said Cosboa had formed an alliance with other groups including the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Transport Workers’ Union to call for government funding of the tests.
“We just need as many options as possible,” Boyd said. “Nothing is the golden ticket out of this but we need as many pieces of weaponry against it as possible.”
She said government-funded tests would give businesses protection against infections and therefore snap shutdowns, as well as providing financial support.
“Some people may say $15 a pop is not expensive, but if you’re running a hairdressing salon with 20 people on different shifts throughout the day [it can add up],” she said.
The UK and Singapore governments offer free antigen tests, as do some EU governments. In Australia the federal government provides tests to health facilities, while there are different situations in different states and territories (for now, South Australia and Western Australia do not allow the general public to use at-home tests).
Many businesses have been paying for their own surveillance testing.
The ACTU acting secretary, Liam O’Brien, said the tests kept workplaces and the community safe and should be widely available.
“The failure of the Morrison government to do what many others around the world have in developing a program where these tests are free and accessible has meant that outbreaks are growing and PCR sites are being overwhelmed,” he said.
The peak body for manufacturers and suppliers of rapid testing, Pathology Technology Australia, said free or cheaper tests would help solve the supply issue as well as stopping lockdowns and preventing infections.
“We’ve been struggling for some time to get medical and diagnostic supplies,” said PTA’s chief executive, Dean Whiting. “And when it gets here, getting it around Australia is also proving difficult.”
The ongoing global supply chain crisis makes it harder to get deliveries from manufacturing countries including the US, Canada, China and South Korea, he said, while freight costs and border restrictions made transport difficult.
But the other issue is the “on again, off again” nature of demand for the tests.
“The health department and health advice have not embraced rapid testing,” he said. “Because there are poor market signals from Australia, the manufacturers don’t prioritise Australia.”
Whiting said a government subsidy would be an endorsement, showing a “clear role” for the tests. Overseas manufacturers had told him that if they saw such a signal, they would open a
pipeline to ensure Australia’s testing supply.
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The Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive, Paul Sadler, said he would like to see rapid testing expanded now that there is fast community transmission. And he said that while the government was delivering tests to aged care facilities, he was worried about a Christmas shortage.
Facilities had to have ordered the tests by last Wednesday. Since then, infections have continued to rise and he feared people had not stocked up as much as they needed to.
The booster rollout in aged care had been good, he said, but if the New South Wales health minister Brad Hazzard’s prediction of 25,000 cases a day estimate was true, (or “even half that”) aged care homes were at serious risk.
The office of the federal health minister, Greg Hunt, passed Guardian Australia’s request for comment to the health department. A spokesperson said the department was working with the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to develop a “nationally consistent framework” for the use of rapid antigen tests.
“The department is also consulting with a range of stakeholders, both within government and industry, to identify where support for (rapid antigen testing) is of most benefit, particularly in specific use cases and settings of national interest,” the spokesperson said.
“These consultations will inform the Australian government’s considerations on where to provide additional targeted support to help Australia reopen and provide the confidence Australians are looking for as we adjust to living with Covid-19.”