An epidemiologist’s idea to help free up rapid antigen tests

A Victorian epidemiologist says the state government should allow people who have COVID-19 symptoms and live with someone who is a confirmed case to record themselves as a probable case without doing a rapid antigen test (RAT).

Chair of Epidemiology at Deakin University, Professor Catherine Bennett, says it’d free up RATs, which are currently in very short supply, for other circumstances where they’re more desperately needed.

“If you’re young, fit and well, and you’ve got symptoms, and your housemate has got COVID, you’ve got COVID. You don’t need a rapid antigen test to tell you that,” she told Tony Jones, filling in for Neil Mitchell.

Professor Bennett says people with symptoms who live with a confirmed case should be able to report a probable case using the same state government system as those who’ve returned a positive RAT result.

“It’s still a trust process but it gives those people a way of recording ‘Yep, I’ve got it too’, they’ve got the case count, and they’re not wasting a test,” she said.

But those who live with a confirmed case and have underlying conditions which put them at high risk of severe illness should get a PCR test so health authorities can “figure out what variant you have and manage your condition”, Professor Bennett said.

Press PLAY below to hear Professor Bennett on RATs, the return to school amid the outbreak + ICU numbers