MOH Launches Rapid Testing in August Pine Ridge

With the reopening of P.G.I.A. next week, rapid testing for COVID-19 is now underway which will ease back logs in testing results.  On Wednesday, the Ministry of Health launched its first COVID-19 rapid test activity.  It took place in the village of August Pine Ridge in the Orange Walk. The National Surveillance Officer coordinated the activity along with staff from Northern Health Region and tested over sixty persons at the health centre in the village. Within minutes, the results from the SD BIOSENSOR Rapid Test were out and six persons tested positive. Those samples were further processed with a PCR test for validation, but the initial results allowed for contact tracing to readily begin. News Five spoke with Regional Health Manager Maria Monima of the Northern Health Region about the activity.

Maria Monima

Maria Monima, Regional Health Manager, Northern Health Region

“After we made the logistics and communicate with the assistant as a team effort, in August Pine Ridge, we had in total persons swabbed sixty-six persons; forty-nine from August Pine Ridge, seven persons from Trinidad, four persons from San Lazaro. We had other areas like from San Felipe, San Ignacio one person and even one from Corozal leaving on bus and then from Orange Walk Town three persons. So in total it was sixty-six persons swabbed and it was identified by positive from the rapid test, six persons. So that was a great benefit right there. We did interview and with the investigation form, right there sample was taken and then we had another section right there in the health centre where the person with support from CML and our laboratory at Northern Regional Hospital, they worked with that sample and in ten, fifteen minutes we had the results. So we identified six persons positive and it was really a great benefit because right away the person was called and we made the validation with the PCR test. So still we have those samples that have been sent to our Central Medical Laboratory for a confirmatory result with the PCR test.”