Sydney providers can apply to join rapid antigen testing pilot

The Federal Government’s COVID-19 rapid antigen testing pilot has kicked off at Uniting NSW ACT’S Bankstown aged care home in Sydney’s south west.

The Commonwealth Government has commenced a COVID-19 rapid antigen pilot this week starting with Uniting NSW ACT’s aged care home in Bankstown in Sydney’s south-west.

Aged care homes in greater Sydney will be able apply to take part in the pilot, which will be progressively rolled out to up to 50 homes over the next four weeks.

The program aims to use rapid antigen tests that deliver a result in 15 minutes to screen aged care employees and visitors to provide reassurance to employees, managers, residents and families.

Minister for Health and Aged Care Greg Hunt, who announced the program on Sunday, said the Government was looking at innovations such as rapid antigen tests to provide an additional layer of protection on top of infection control training and vaccinations for aged care residents.

He said the pilot built on the successful rapid antigen testing trial at Whiddon Easton Park, which as previously reported conducted 5,180 tests over two weeks.

“One of the key findings of this trial was that it gave workers more confidence that they were safe to come to work and were not putting themselves, their fellow workers and the residents at risk,” Mr Hunt said.

Greg Hunt

Health crisis emergency management and infection control specialist Respond Global is leading the commonwealth’s pilot, which began on Monday at Uniting Bankstown.

Respond Global will provide all participating residential aged care facilities training and protocols in using the tests and recording the results.

Pharmaceuticals and diagnostics company Roche will initially supply the rapid antigen tests following a tender process and three more suppliers expected to join as the program expands.

Anyone who tests positive will be required to also have the standard polymerase chain reaction, or PCR test, for COVID-19.

The pilot aims to look at the role of rapid antigen testing in managing COVID-19 in Australia, the Department of Health said.

“The current program will run for four weeks with a formal evaluation that will provide insight into ongoing use of [rapid antigen test] as part of a broader risk control process,” a spokesperson from the health department n told Australian Ageing Agenda.

“Aged care providers can nominate their interest to participate in the pilot and will be considered if they meet the pilot criteria.”

Update

The Department of Health told AAA on Monday further information about the rapid antigen testing pilot will be made available on its website shortly. In the meantime providers can email RAT.pilot@health.gov.au to express their interest in participating in the pilot.

Main image: Uniting NSW ACT Bankstown

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Tags: COVID19, department of health, greg hunt, infection control, uniting, uniting nsw act, whiddon,

2 thoughts on “Sydney providers can apply to join rapid antigen testing pilot

  1. Thanks for the article. Do you have any updates/details on how aged care providers can nominate their interest in participating in this pilot?

  2. Hi Rachel,

    I am still following this up with the Department of Health and will update the story once I hear back. Thank you.

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