Guyana to increase PCR testing capability to 1500 per day

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Monday stated that Guyana’s capacity to conduct PCR testing has increased significantly, with the arrival of new equipment. After installation, a total of 1500 tests are expected to be conducted per day.
Dr Anthony reminded Guyanese that the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is still the gold standard for testing. The new automated machines will provide an extra boost in the country’s COVID-19 testing and detection.

“The PCR test is still the gold standard for testing. We still have that and the capacity to do that. We have increased that capacity because we have constantly been adding equipment and so forth at the National Lab. Over the weekend, we brought over two PCR machines and additional reagents. These are all automated machines. So, we would now be able, once we install the machines, to do more than 1000 PCR tests per day. I would say we can comfortably do around 1500 tests,” Dr Anthony explained.
Guyana also has the capacity to conduct rapid antigen tests, and has facilitated training for health officials in this regard. The Minister shared that the Ministry will employ protocols issued by the World Health Organisation and this type of test will only be done on persons displaying symptoms associated with the virus.
“We have the antigen tests that are much faster and cheaper to do. We will be deploying them but there are conditions for the deployment because they are a little bit less sensitive. At the beginning of someone getting infected, they’re not as effective to detect the infection. If you wait a few days, then they become more effective at detecting the infection. With the antigen test, our protocol and the WHO protocol suggests that you use them when somebody displays signs and symptoms of COVID-19.”
Symptoms of the coronavirus include fever, dry cough, tiredness, sore throat, headache, loss of taste or smell, difficulty breathing or shortness of breath among others.
“Once people are displaying these signs, we will be able to do the test. It’s a very simple test to be done. Just like a PCR, you have to swab the person…It’s very simple and you could see it as it unfolds. So, we thought that it is important to use it, especially in some of the areas where it’s challenging to do the swab and then send the swab out to the National Lab,” he shared.
This type of testing gives an immediate indication of whether a patient has COVID-19 or not, by identifying fragments of the virus. It is the third type of test to be rolled out here, after the PCR and antibody tests. It will be used in combination with the PCR test across the country.
The Ministry’s rapid antigen testing capacity for COVID-19 received a major boost with the donation of $32 million from ExxonMobil Guyana on Monday. This was handed over to Minister Anthony by President of ExxonMobil Guyana, Alistair Routledge.