Private labs in T&T to start testing for COVID-19

…Guyana yet to move in this direction

Private medical laboratories across Trinidad and Tobago are now being encouraged to begin performing tests for the coronavirus (disease COVID-19), but Guyana, with positive cases and deaths rising daily, is yet to move in this direction.
At a press conference in Port of Spain on Tuesday, that country’s Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, said that once the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) certified labs were equipped with the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machines, they could proceed, once validated by CARPHA.

Deyalsingh said these private lab tests may result in a rise in the number of confirmed cases, the Trinidad Express reported.
Trinidad’s Health Ministry had held the position that private labs could not perform the tests, since they were not certified by CARPHA.
The new regulations that came into effect require that the private labs, certified by CARPHA, report the findings of the test, to the Chief Medical Officer and not the individual.
Guyana’s former shadow Public Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony, a few days ago, called on the Government here to tap the resources of the private health sector to boost testing capacity for COVID-19.

Dr Anthony is one of the key stakeholders in the National COVID-19 Response Forum that was established by the Opposition People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) to aid in the fight against the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The Public Health Ministry had recently stated that efforts were being made to have the necessary lab equipment available in order to increase the number of tests being done.
However, Dr Anthony explained that many of the private hospitals and laboratories in Guyana have the human capacity as well as the equipment readily available; as such, they just need to get the supplies in order to conduct COVID-19 tests themselves.
According to Dr Anthony, currently, if any of these private health institutions need a test conducted, they first would have to seek permission from the Public Health Ministry, and some of these requests have been denied.
Dr Anthony had stressed that these private hospitals must be able to get testing for the deadly virus done immediately, since delays with this could endanger the lives of not just the patients but the medical professionals as well.
According to Dr Anthony, in both the public and private health sectors, people are not getting access to COVID-19 testing readily.