The Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) yesterday announced that the policy of using a positive COVID-19 rapid antigen test result for diagnosis would be expanded to the public starting today, and it reminded the public of the five steps when taking a positive test result to a doctor for assessment.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), who heads the center, said the policy would be officially expanded to everybody, starting today, and the case definition for COVID-19 had been revised accordingly.
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Deputy Director-General Chuang Jen-hsiang (莊人祥), who is the CECC spokesman, said the previous case definition was being tested positive in one of two testing methods — a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a rapid antigen test assessed by a doctor — but the eligibility for diagnosis based on the rapid test result was limited to people in home quarantine, home isolation, self-disease prevention, people aged 65 years or older, and residents of indigenous areas and outlying islands.
Photo courtesy of the New Taipei City Department of Health via CNA
Starting today, the definition has been revised to include people who test positive with a rapid antigen test without regard to age or ethnicity, who can be diagnosed as a confirmed case after a doctor confirms the test result, or if the positive rapid test result was performed by a health worker, he said.
The positive test result could be assessed by a doctor through a telemedicine appointment or taken to a doctor at a community testing station or healthcare facility, he said, adding that people who tested positive should remember the following five steps:
They should write their name and testing date on the rapid test cassette with the positive result, put their National Health Insurance (NHI) card next to the cassette and take a photograph, then put the cassette in a bag and take it to a healthcare facility or testing station if they wish to see a doctor in person, he said.
They should wear a mask throughout the visit and are prohibited from taking public transport, but can drive, walk or have a family member drive them to the hospital, Chuang said, adding that those who book a telemedicine appointment should follow the doctor’s instructions.
Chuang said the criteria for getting a PCR test has also been updated in response to the new policy, including when a health provider has doubts about the result of a rapid test performed by them, and when a patient and doctor cannot agree on the result of a rapid test performed by the patient.
They also include when a confirmed case diagnosed based on a rapid test needs to be hospitalized during at-home care; when a patient tests negative with a rapid test, but the doctor suspects the patient to be infected; and when a frontline health worker tests positive with a rapid test and needs to confirm the result with a PCR test within 24 hours, he said.
As the new testing policy has just been implemented, testing stations will continue to offer PCR tests for people who have tested positive with a rapid test, he added.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Shih Chung-liang (石崇良) said the new policy was not immediately adopted when the local outbreak started last month, as about 15 percent of people who tested positive with a rapid test later tested negative in a PCR test at that time.
Placing false-positive cases in isolation or administering unnecessary treatment would have breached the principles of law and ethics, Shih said.
Consistency between rapid test and PCR test results has greatly increased since then to as high as 97 percent in New Taipei City, 93 percent in Taipei and 95 percent in Taichung, meaning the risk of false-negative cases is much lower, he said.
Moreover, after consulting with specialists and local governments, the case definition for COVID-19 has been revised to solve a legal issue, he said, adding that the model of diagnosis through shared decisionmaking between the patient and a doctor would solve the previous ethical issue.
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