MINISTER of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, on Monday, disclosed that COVID-19 PCR testing at public testing sites was abused in January, particularly by those who were going abroad.

Dr. Anthony made this revelation during his daily COVID-19 update when he was asked about the reduced number of persons reportedly being tested. The minister, in response, stated that authorities noticed that lots of persons were abusing the PCR tests including those who wanted to travel.

“Some people who wanted to travel were coming to get PCR done by the public sector. So, it was not being done for purposes of making a diagnosis. It was just done for purposes of international travel and our policy has been if you need a test for international travel then you should do that in the private sector,” he said.

To this end, he added that health officials have also observed that persons who felt that they were exposed to the virus had presented themselves without waiting for the required period to see if they had any symptoms.

“From the time of exposure to the time of development of symptoms there probably is a four to a five-day interval, so if they believe they were exposed and they come during the window period, then obviously we are not going to see whether by PCR or antigen that they’re positive,” he said.

Dr. Anthony disclosed that there are now broad parameters for the use of PCR tests. He added that he does not believe that that is the reason why there has been a decline in the number of persons coming forward to get tested.