COVID-19 rapid testing kits for use in the home can be bought at select convenience stores in northern Taiwan, with plans to supply stores nationwide by the weekend.
Five companies have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to sell the kits, which test for either COVID-19 antigens or the virus’ nucleic acid.
Aside from pharmacies, home testing kits can be bought at convenience store chains 7-Eleven, Hi-Life and OK Mart, while FamilyMart plans to start selling the products on Saturday.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Tests went on sale yesterday at all 7-Eleven locations north of Taoyuan that are authorized to sell medical products, the convenience store’s operator, Uni-President Enterprises, said.
Individual antigen test strips produced by domestic firm TaiDoc Technology are available for NT$350 each, it said.
Uni-President said it hopes to make the tests available at all authorized 7-Eleven stores nationwide by Thursday next week.
Hi-Life also began selling TaiDoc testing kits yesterday, although only at its store on Dihua Street in Taipei’s Datong District (大同) and its Wugong store in New Taipei City’s Wugu District (五股).
Unlike 7-Eleven, Hi-Life is selling boxes of five testing strips for NT$1,700. Each store has 100 boxes available.
From today, OK Mart is to begin selling test kits produced by Swiss firm Roche at NT$1,900 for a box of five, the firm said.
Orders can be made from OK Mart kiosks nationwide for pickup starting from July 9, it added.
From Saturday, FamilyMart is to offer TaiDoc and Roche kits at nearly 3,800 stores nationwide that are authorized to sell medical products.
The Roche tests are to be sold in boxes of five for NT$1,800, while the TaiDoc tests would be sold in boxes of 20 for NT$5,880, FamilyMart said, adding that it is targeting corporate customers.
Preorders could be made at FamiPort kiosks for pickup the next day at the earliest, FamilyMart added.
Cosmed is also offering TaiDoc tests from today in Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan and Keelung in boxes of five strips each, while it plans to stock Roche kits in boxes of five nationwide from Saturday.
According to FDA guidelines, people who test positive with a rapid testing kit while in home quarantine should contact their local health bureau or call the 1922 hotline, which would give instructions on how to safely dispose of the test.
Those who test positive while not in quarantine should go to a community testing center for further testing, bringing the used kit in a sealed container for disposal by medical personnel.
However, a negative test result is not definitive, the FDA said.
Those who test negative should still monitor their health and follow the guidelines, the agency said, adding that the tests can be thrown away in the regular trash after being sealed in a plastic bag.
Meanwhile, Uni-President said it sold more than 10,000 protective goggles and face shields in their first week on the shelves in northern Taiwan earlier this month.
Since then, the firm has stocked 7-Eleven stores nationwide with the products, Uni-President said, adding that it is to complete its set of protective equipment with portable sanitizer spray pens to be available from today.
Civil society groups yesterday protested outside the Legislative Yuan, decrying Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) efforts to pass three major bills that they said would seriously harm Taiwan’s democracy, and called to oust KMT caucus whip Fu Kun-chi (傅?萁). It was the second night of the three-day “Bluebird wintertime action” protests in Taipei, with organizers announcing that 8,000 people attended. Organized by Taiwan Citizen Front, the Economic Democracy Union (EDU) and a coalition of civil groups, about 6,000 people began a demonstration in front of KMT party headquarters in Taipei on Wednesday, organizers said. For the third day, the organizers asked people to assemble
POOR IMPLEMENTATION: Teachers welcomed the suspension, saying that the scheme disrupted school schedules, quality of learning and the milk market A policy to offer free milk to all school-age children nationwide is to be suspended next year due to multiple problems arising from implementation of the policy, the Executive Yuan announced yesterday. The policy was designed to increase the calcium intake of school-age children in Taiwan by drinking milk, as more than 80 percent drink less than 240ml per day. The recommended amount is 480ml. It was also implemented to help Taiwanese dairy farmers counter competition from fresh milk produced in New Zealand, which is to be imported to Taiwan tariff-free next year when the Agreement Between New Zealand and
‘NEW NORMAL’: A Japanese official said the drills show that the PLA can carry out large maneuvers without announcement, ‘leaving all of us struggling to respond’ Beijing’s recent naval exercises have left Taiwan and the US “struggling” for a response as the two nations drew different conclusions about the implications of the Chinese military drills, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Sunday. Taiwan has been bracing for China to hold military drills to retaliate against President William Lai’s (賴清德) diplomatic visits abroad, the outlet said, referring to Lai’s Nov. 30 to Dec. 6 tour to Taiwan’s three South Pacific allies, which included stopovers in Hawaii and Guam. Beijing announced partial air traffic restrictions across seven time zones along its coast from Shanghai to Hong Kong over two days. Yet,
CONNECTED: A survey of students from third grade to university seniors showed that 80% had cellphones, spending on average 37.27 hours per week on them Line users in Taiwan made an average of 100 million voice or video calls each day this year, while “like/thumbs up” was the most frequently used emoji in reaction to a message on the service, the Tokyo-based operator of the messaging app said yesterday. The app’s ability to adjust the quality of video and voice calls helps contribute to its frequent use, LY Corp said in a statement. As of Nov. 30, Line users in Taiwan spent an average of about one hour per day on the app, often checking it in the morning for messages that might have come through overnight,