COVID-19: RDT test kits are illegal – Lagos State Government

The Lagos state government has warned against patronizing unauthorized health facilities and the use of Rapid Diagnostics Test Kits for COVID19 testing in Lagos.

Speaking at a news briefing with journalists on the COVID-19 situation in Lagos, the Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi said the use of Rapid Diagnostics Test kits remains illegal until it is validated.

Abayomi stated that RDT kits have a very high risk of giving false positive or negative results which could be traumatizing for citizens especially at a time when the community transmission is on the rise.

According to professor Abayomi, In the event that a false positive result is given, a potentially negative person will be subjected to trauma, isolation and treatment like a positive patient while on the event that a false negative is given, a potentially positive person is allowed to continue to roam freely in the community regardless of his positive status.

The Commissioner explained that the State Government had considered the use of Rapid Diagnostic Test (RDT) Kits as part of the strategies to expand its testing capacity but noted however that none of the RDT kits submitted for validation passed the validation test.

Also noting that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not yet declared any RDT kit useful for public use, Abayomi stated that it is also illegal for private health facilities to test or manage COVID19 cases without proper accreditation and validation by the regulatory authorities.

The attention of the Lagos state government had been brought to several laboratories and health facilities testing and managing COVID patients without proper accreditation and validation by the regulatory authorities.