A total of 82 clinics around Taiwan are now allowed to distribute government-funded COVID-19 home test kits to individuals considered at high risk of infection, the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC) said Monday.
The 82 clinics were included in the government’s enhanced COVID-19 community surveillance program that took effect Monday and will last until Dec. 31, under which they will receive the test kits, said CECC chief and Health and Welfare Minister Chen Shih-chung (???).
The CECC initiated the community surveillance program to reduce the risk of the Delta variant entering communities in Taiwan and quickly detect domestic COVID-19 cases in order to break the chain of infection, Chen said.
Under the program, doctors at the CECC-contracted clinics can provide the test kits to individuals at high risk of infection based on their diagnosis and ask them to use the test kits at home and report their test result, Chen said at a regular CECC media briefing.
The scope of the program covers 82 clinics in 18 cities and counties, and it could be expanded depending on how well it is going and the status of domestic COVID-19 outbreak which began in mid-May and has eased over the past few weeks, according to Chen.
Doctors at these clinics can give self-test kits based on their professional judgment to individuals aged two or older who seek medical attention for upper respiratory infections or those who accompany young patients, Chen said.
People should do the screening soon after receiving the test kits and fill out related data and information such as the name of the clinic that gave the kits to them and their test result online at https://forms.gle/8gh7Kb3ZkYE5aArW7.
If people test positive, they can go back to a nearby government-designated testing site to take a PCR test to double check the result, according to Chen.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel