–to detect presence of virus in persons here, Health Minister reports

MINISTER of Health Dr. Frank Anthony on Friday announced that Guyana may very well take advantage of a novel method of testing for the coronavirus, codenamed the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer test, following the authorisation of its use on April 14, 2022 by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Making the announcement during the course of his daily COVID-19 update, Minister Anthony said that after the use of the method has been fully authorised here, the advantages of it will be looked at, and if it is seen as beneficiary, it will be used in Guyana.
“Once it is given full authorisation, I think then other countries will start using it. We’ll also get more information; I think we would look at it and see what advantages, if any, it would bring to our current testing landscape here in Guyana, and if it’s going to be beneficial, well, we are going to get it into the country,” Minister Anthony said.
Noting that the methods of testing that are currently available to us here in Guyana do have their limitations, one of which has to do with the swabbing, which, if not done correctly, can adversely affect the inaccuracy of the results, Minister Anthony said the beauty about this latest development is that it has the ability to make a world of difference, and pain-free at that.
As he explained, “What it does is use a gas, and you go through a spectrometry process, whereby you are able to analyse the content of the gas, and detect whether someone has ‘COVID’ or not.”
What is even more impressive, he said, is that the results are very accurate, as the test usually checks for specificity as well as sensitivity.
“This particular test, its sensitivity is at 91.2 per cent, and its specificity, meaning that it is actually detecting the virus we want it to detect, is 99.3 per cent,” Minister Anthony explained.
Meanwhile, the health minister said that since the reopening of schools, no adverse effects have been reported. He stated that there has been no spike in cases, but noted that there has also been a reduction in testing for COVID-19.
There are currently 108 active cases, with an additional eight occurring over a 24-hour period.