THERE' S reason for optimism on the coronavirus pandemic: The number of new Covid-19 cases is dropping, and 98.2 million doses of coronavirus vaccines have been administered in the United States. But a decline in the number of coronavirus tests being conducted threatens this progress, because those tests are vital to tracing the path and velocity of Covid-19.

 

The average number of tests being conducted daily to detect the coronavirus in the US has dropped 20 per cent since Feb 1. At the same time, the nation does not have enough rapid tests to conduct routine testing outside of sites run by local health departments and medical clinics. America needs to expand the nation' s testing capacity and accelerate the proliferation of rapid coronavirus tests to overcome Covid-19.

 

While giving immunisations is vital, we should not rob our existing surveillance infrastructure to do so. As long as the virus continues to circulate at pandemic levels, testing will remain essential, to diagnose and isolate cases and to screen for asymptomatic infections.

 

The nation reached record highs for daily cases in January, with more than 300,000 cases reported on Jan 8 last week, the seven-day average number of daily new cases was down to 57,400. But as more contagious coronavirus variants emerge and lockdown measures are relaxed, the nation needs to intensify, not scale back, nationwide testing efforts.

 

We strongly suspect that a diversion of resources from testing to vaccinations may be to blame. Though the number of tests conducted in the country has increased since the beginning of the pandemic, national data show that testing began to stagnate as early as late November. This was around the time America was preparing for the vaccine roll-out, and it was well before the noticeable recent decline in cases.

 

For months, experts have suggested that rapid antigen tests could be a " cheap, simple way to control the coronavirus" , as Laurence J Kotlikoff and Michael Mina argued in an essay in The Times last summer. These tests, which are commonly used by professional sports teams and filmmakers to maintain coronavirus-free " bubbles" , can be conducted anywhere, require no laboratory equipment and deliver results in as little as 15 minutes. They would allow people to test themselves at home and get results before leaving for work, school or a family gathering.

 

But these tests are not available in nearly the volume required for this type of screening testing. Nor are they priced at a level that would permit their routine use. Of the authorised tests on the market, the least expensive costs about US$5 each. At that rate, conducting one test for each of the more than 50 million students that attend US public schools would cost US$250 million.

 

We need to make these tests more affordable, easier to find and available without a prescription. And testing facilities run by public health departments remain vital for ensuring that all communities have access to free tests. Private providers may not serve all communities, including those that are most vulnerable and have been hardest hit by the virus.

 

FUNDING

 

The newly signed American Rescue Plan, President Joe Biden' s economic stimulus bill, includes US$46 billion in funding for coronavirus testing and contact tracing. It also includes US$1.75 billion in funding to scale up the amount of genetic sequencing performed to identify variants that could result in case increases, lead to more serious illnesses or potentially not respond to the vaccines and medicines that are currently available.

 

This funding cannot come soon enough. Even a month-long lapse in our testing efforts could create dangerous blind spots in our surveillance for the virus. Given the progress the nation has made in the pandemic, we should be strengthening our ability to find new cases to prevent another setback.

 

We need to quickly provide resources to states to restore their testing efforts and make less expensive rapid tests available so that testing can occur in homes, schools and businesses. We also need to remind Americans of the continued importance of getting tested if they develop symptoms or are exposed to Covid-19.

 

The pandemic has demonstrated the danger of complacency. The detection of potentially more contagious genetic variants sounded an alarm bell for countries like the United Kingdom and France, which had dialled back on their public health control measures. We will not get ahead of this virus if we continue to respond by diverting limited public health resources from one important area to another. Vaccines offer the promise of a path out of this pandemic, but only in conjunction with other strategies, especially coronavirus testing. NYTIMES

The board of directors (the " Board" ) of Biolidics Limited (the " Company" and together with its subsidiaries, the " Group" ) refers to the announcement made on 25 January 2021 in relation to the launch of the " ClearEpi SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test Kit" (the " ClearEpi ART" ) (the " Announcement" ).

 

Further to the Announcement, the Board wishes to update that the ClearEpi ART had on 13 March 2021, received the product authorisation from Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia, which is the Ministry of Health in Indonesia, for it to be distributed and used in Indonesia (the " Authorisation" ).

 

The Authorisation remains valid until 10 March 2022 and the extension of its validity may be permissible should there be no undesirable events upon usage.

 

It should be noted that antigen rapid test kits, such as the ClearEpi ART, are different from serology rapid test kits for the detection of COVID-19 antibodies. Specifically, serology tests (administered via blood draw) seek to detect antibodies that usually appear in patients during the recovery phase of COVID-19, whereas antigen tests (administered via nasal swab from the lower part of the nose) seek

to detect viral proteins (i.e. antigens) in patients during the acute phase of COVID-19.

 

Serology tests and antigen tests are beneficial for their ability to produce test results quickly and at lower costs as compared to the more expensive polymerase chain reaction (" PCR" ) tests which typically take between one to two days to produce test results. However, serology tests and antigen tests have lower sensitivity and specificity than PCR tests which are administered via nasopharyngeal

or oropharyngeal swabs to obtain respiratory samples. 

 

For this reason, the results from the ClearEpi ART are only for clinical reference and should not be the only basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

 

The clinical management of patients should be considered in combination with their symptoms, physical signs, medical history, other laboratory tests, therapeutic reaction, and epidemiological information.

 

Barring unforeseen circumstances, and given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Authorisation is expected to contribute positively to the revenue of the Group for the current financial year ending 31 December 2021. However, the Company is unable to quantify such financial impact as the sales uptake of the ClearEpi ART in Indonesia cannot be determined as at the date of this announcement.

The board of directors (the " Board" ) of Biolidics Limited (the " Company" and together with its subsidiaries, the " Group" ) refers to the announcement made on 25 January 2021 in relation to the launch of the " ClearEpi SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test Kit" (the " ClearEpi ART" ) (the " Announcement" ).

 

Further to the Announcement, the Board wishes to update that the ClearEpi ART had on 13 March 2021, received the product authorisation from Kementerian Kesehatan Republik Indonesia, which is the Ministry of Health in Indonesia, for it to be distributed and used in Indonesia (the " Authorisation" ).

 

The Authorisation remains valid until 10 March 2022 and the extension of its validity may be permissible should there be no undesirable events upon usage.

 

It should be noted that antigen rapid test kits, such as the ClearEpi ART, are different from serology rapid test kits for the detection of COVID-19 antibodies. Specifically, serology tests (administered via blood draw) seek to detect antibodies that usually appear in patients during the recovery phase of COVID-19, whereas antigen tests (administered via nasal swab from the lower part of the nose) seek

to detect viral proteins (i.e. antigens) in patients during the acute phase of COVID-19.

 

Serology tests and antigen tests are beneficial for their ability to produce test results quickly and at lower costs as compared to the more expensive polymerase chain reaction (" PCR" ) tests which typically take between one to two days to produce test results. However, serology tests and antigen tests have lower sensitivity and specificity than PCR tests which are administered via nasopharyngeal

or oropharyngeal swabs to obtain respiratory samples. 

 

For this reason, the results from the ClearEpi ART are only for clinical reference and should not be the only basis for clinical diagnosis and treatment.

 

The clinical management of patients should be considered in combination with their symptoms, physical signs, medical history, other laboratory tests, therapeutic reaction, and epidemiological information.

 

Barring unforeseen circumstances, and given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Authorisation is expected to contribute positively to the revenue of the Group for the current financial year ending 31 December 2021. However, the Company is unable to quantify such financial impact as the sales uptake of the ClearEpi ART in Indonesia cannot be determined as at the date of this announcement.