Australia urged to fund free rapid Covid tests as stores sell out

The federal government should fund free or subsidised rapid antigen tests, business and union groups say, as pre-Christmas Covid testing queues grow and stores sell out of the at-home tests.

Since 1 November, Australians have been able to test themselves at home for Covid. The rapid antigen tests are not as accurate as PCR tests but they deliver results much faster and can screen for infections if used regularly.

But many retailers have sold out of the tests and prices have fluctuated as the number of infections increased and people get tested before travel or Christmas gatherings.

At the same time, global supply chain problems are delaying shipments of rapid tests into Australia, while freight prices and border restrictions are delaying transport around the country.

She said government-funded tests would give businesses protection against infections and therefore snap shutdowns, as well as providing financial support.

The UK and Singapore governments offer free antigen tests, as do some EU governments. In Australia the federal government provides tests to health facilities, while there are different situations in different states and territories (for now, South Australia and Western Australia do not allow the general public to use at-home tests).

Many businesses have been paying for their own surveillance testing.

The peak body for manufacturers and suppliers of rapid testing, Pathology Technology Australia, said free or cheaper tests would help solve the supply issue as well as stopping lockdowns and preventing infections.

The ongoing global supply chain crisis makes it harder to get deliveries from manufacturing countries including the US, Canada, China and South Korea, he said, while freight costs and border restrictions made transport difficult.

The Aged and Community Services Australia chief executive, Paul Sadler, said he would like to see rapid testing expanded now that there is fast community transmission. And he said that while the government was delivering tests to aged care facilities, he was worried about a Christmas shortage.

Facilities had to have ordered the tests by last Wednesday. Since then, infections have continued to rise and he feared people had not stocked up as much as they needed to.