Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Legislator Jang Chyi-lu (張其祿) yesterday called on government agencies to probe the market prices of COVID-19 self-test kits to prevent businesses from making unlawful profits.
Chang said that a rapid antigen test kit developed by Switzerland’s Roche is sold for about NT$200 (US$7.19) in other countries, but for about NT$360 in Taiwan.
Another test kit, produced by China’s Boson Biotech Co, is reportedly sold for NT$500 in Taiwan, but it only costs about NT$100 in Germany, he said.
Although the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) has allowed people to use self-test kits, inadequate regulations for the prices of the kits might benefit unscrupulous brokers, Chang said.
He urged the CECC and the Fair Trade Commission to investigate the market prices of the test kits, saying that hoarding key resources and price manipulation is outlawed by the Special Act for Prevention, Relief and Revitalization Measures for Severe Pneumonia with Novel Pathogens (嚴重特殊傳染性肺炎防治及紓困振興特別條例), the Criminal Code and the Communicable Disease Control Act (傳染病防治法).
Businesses that are found conspiring to push up the prices might be fined up to NT$50 million based on the Fair Trade Act (公平交易法), he added.
The government must ensure that businesses cannot make unreasonable profits amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as some did when there was a shortage of masks early last year, Chang said.
The government should also ensure that underprivileged people have access to the kits and other disease prevention supplies, he said.
Some foreign governments offer free test kits to poorer residents, and the US and Japan also allow the sale of test kits at vending machines, he said.
Meanwhile, the Food and Drug Administration yesterday unveiled guidelines for the use of rapid test kits by members of the public.
People who test positive for COVID-19 in a self-test while under home isolation should immediately contact local health authorities or dial the 1922 hotline to get instructions on what to do, the agency said.
Those who test positive for the virus while not under home isolation should visit the nearest COVID-19 testing facility, without taking public transportation, it said.
After testing positive in a self-test, people should put the test in a plastic bag, seal it and take it with them to the testing center, it said.
Test kits showing negative results should also be sealed in a plastic bag and disposed as general garbage, the agency said.
People who are ordered to conduct self-health management should continue doing so even if they tested negative in a self-test, it added.
People who have COVID-19 symptoms should not us a self-test and instead seek medical treatment as soon as possible, the agency added.
As rapid test kits might show false positive or negative results, the government would continue to rely on polymerase chain reaction tests processed in approved laboratories for confirming COVID-19 cases, it said.
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