THE Ministry of Health has affirmed that it is not compelling persons to report the results of their home tests or self-tests, according to subject minister, Dr. Frank Anthony.

Speaking during Thursday’s edition of the COVID-19 update, Dr. Anthony said that the tests would best serve persons who believe that they might have been exposed to COVID-19 and wish to know their status.

When asked about the protocol if persons are to test positive and fail to report same, Dr. Anthony said: “It’s up to the persons. We are not compelling anybody to do self-testing, but the persons who would be doing it obviously would be more conscientious and I’m sure if they are conscientious enough to buy the kit and to test themselves at home, they would want to report that to the surveillance department.”

The Health Minister said that it is not compulsory for results to be reported, but it would be good if those persons send those reports to the ministry and authorities, who would be able to verify the results and possibly conduct another test.

He related that for those persons who believe that they might have been exposed to the virus, they could test themselves four to five days following that exposure.

“Somebody who would have flu-like symptoms: so, if they have sneezing, runny nose, itching in their throat, those types of symptoms, then they can test themselves. So, it’s all individual and these are things that people can do on their own at home,” Dr. Anthony said.

Depending on the results of the tests, those persons could decide how to move forward from there. If negative, he said persons could continue with their normal activity and if the results return positive and they are unsure, they could visit a testing facility and later confirm whether it was truly a positive test.