Just under half of the number of extraction kits needed to match the 4000 COVID-19 test kits donated by the government of China will arrive in Trinidad shortly. Therefore testing for COVID-19 will be ramped up by next Monday.

China donated 4000 test kits one month ago but they could not be used because the complimentary extractor kits were not available. Now, according to the Minister of Health, 1750 extractors kits will be available. That’s in addition to the 10,000 test kits promised by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) which will be ready in two weeks and will also be used for surveillance testing in Trinidad and Tobago.

PAHO has advised the government to keep at least 4000 test kits available for use in the event of a second and third wave of the COVID-19 Pandemic. PAHO has also advised against using the rapid tests kits that are available else here because they are not always accurate.