Left with incomplete testing kits the Ministry of Health is now appealing to private labs to get certified by the Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA, to begin testing for COVID-19.  The call came from the Minister of Health  Terrence Deyalsingh at a press conference on Tuesday morning.

While unable to say how many private labs in the country will have the testing capability, the Minister, however, explained that the testing kits now in possession of the Ministry involve a two part process which requires an extraction kit that must extract DNA.

“We are trying to get the extraction kits,” he explained one week and a half after he announced that a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing unit would be installed at the North Central Regional Health Authority, (NCRHA).

‘International flights have been grounded,” Minister Deyalsingh said, to explain the delay in getting the extraction kits. Even as the Minister called for the labs to be certified by CARPHA, the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram who was also at the press conference  noted that three positive  tests submitted  by the private labs and are tested by CARPHA all proved to be negative.

“We are asking the labs to each out to CARPHA and validate your testing,” Dr. Parasram stated.

When asked what would be a reasonable price to  charge for testing at a private lab,  Deyalsingh said that some labs are charging anywhere between TT$1000 and TT$2000 for a panel of tests  that includes COVID-19 while in the US that figure is approximately US$1000 and 485 Pounds Sterling in the UK.

“I expect a rise in the number of cases, yes,”  Deyalsingh said in response to a question posed reporter at the press conference, adding,” but I want to suppress it.”

Four days ago, opposition leader Kamla Persad Bissesar made an appeal  for increased testing  and suggested that the government amends the necessary regulations to undertake a joint medical Public/Private Partnership venture to allow Private Medical Labs across the country to undertake testing.

“Increased large scale testing as a matter of priority now falls within this ‘must-do’ range of solutions at this very fragile state of our nation’s life, if we are to ensure our very survival,” Mrs. Bissessar, a former prime minister, suggested.

So far in Trinidad and Tobago 870 persons have been tested for the Coronavirus.