• Latest
We doh want we carnival: Let Covid-19 take its course

Covid-19 testing to be upscaled by the Ministry of Health

12 months ago
Reopening of schools: Phased approach to accommodate CXC exams

Post-Cabinet Briefing: 13 Apr 2021

12 mins ago
Integrity Commission Warns Police Officers

Justin Campbell among trio appointed to serve on Integrity Commission

51 mins ago
ECCB Hosts 5th Growth and Resilience Dialogue from 14–15 April

ECCB Hosts 5th Growth and Resilience Dialogue from 14–15 April

13 hours ago
Claims of coronavirus at SGU designed to create fear and panic

Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 12 April

14 hours ago
Karen Reid-Ballantyne appointed Solicitor General in Grenada

Karen Reid-Ballantyne appointed Solicitor General in Grenada

20 hours ago
Saint Lucia helps 136 stranded agricultural workers

Saint Lucia helps 136 stranded agricultural workers

20 hours ago
Regional Spiny Lobster Declaration in Review

Closed season: Sea eggs and turtles 1 April; Lobsters 1 May

20 hours ago
Claims of coronavirus at SGU designed to create fear and panic

Covid-19 update: Grenada Dashboard 11 April

2 days ago

NAWASA statement on water quality concerns

2 days ago
Grenada affected by volcanic ash particles and Saharan dust

Grenada affected by volcanic ash particles and Saharan dust

2 days ago
Ambassador of Grenada presents copies of letters of credence to Kazakhstan

Ambassador of Grenada presents copies of letters of credence to Kazakhstan

2 days ago
Nurse who swapped Caribbean for a Covid ward

Nurse who swapped Caribbean for a Covid ward

2 days ago
NOW Grenada

Main Header Ad 468x60

booked.net
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
NOW Grenada
No Result
View All Result

Article Header

Covid-19 testing to be upscaled by the Ministry of Health

This story was posted 12 months ago
14 April 2020
in Health
3 min. read
Share

by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada

  • Covid-19 confirmed cases still stand at 13 on island
  • Infected individuals will be retested after they have stopped showing symptoms of Covid-19
  • Rapid testing to determine percentage of population exposed to virus but remain asymptomatic

To stem the tide of Covid-19 infections, the Ministry of Health, apart from conducting their polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, has included over 3,000 antibody test kits in their arsenal in the fight against Covid-19. Strategies will be announced to commence rapid testing of individuals to determine what percentage of the population may have been exposed to the virus but remain asymptomatic. Covid-19 Response Coordinator, Dr George Mitchell, disclosed the ministry’s intentions during Monday’s press conference with Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell, Health Minister Hon. Nickolas Steele, and Commissioner of Police (Ag) Edvin Martin.

The SARS-COV-2 Antibody Test Kits will show whether a person has been exposed to the Covid-19 virus, and also show whether or not an individual shows lasting immunity to the disease. These test kits were among medical supplies donated by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.

Earlier in April, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorised the first antibody-based test for Covid-19 which looks for coronavirus-specific antibodies in the bloodstream that is produced once a person has contracted the virus for the first time. These antibodies might not appear until the virus has run its course and would act as protection from future infection by the same virus.

“We will be doing random testing of people who show up at our clinics and we are doing testing of people who called our hotline, so, in other words, we have been able to map out a plan that would allow the Ministry of Health to get a good picture of what is happening on the ground,” Dr Mitchell said.

Minister Steele, who is presently on Carriacou, has also indicated that all infected individuals will be retested after they have stopped showing symptoms of Covid-19. “The same test that would have been given to them in order to get a positive result needs to be done twice in a 24-hour period, and if we get 2 negative results twice in 24 hours, then we can determine that they have recovered from Covid-19. Some of them are very much close to being fully recovered but out of an abundance of caution, we are giving them that additional time but we will be testing them all.”

The Ministry of Health is pleased about successful contact tracing led by Head of the Epidemiology and Surveillance Units, Dr Shawn Charles.

“We are confident that all our contact tracing has been successfully done and we have tested all of those people who were remotely or directly in contact with positive cases and those are the cases that came out negative. However, that does not give us any comfort in going forward because based on what we know of the virus, we are not going to rest for a minute to think that we have covered all our bases. But we want to be on the side of caution,” Dr Mitchell said.

Grenada’s Covid-19 confirmed cases still stand at 13 on island.

NOW Grenada is not responsible for the opinions, statements or media content presented by contributors. In case of abuse, click here to report.

Tags: antibodycontact tracingcoronaviruscovid-19curlan campbellgeorge mitchellministry of healthnickolas steelesars-cov-2shawn charlestestvenezuela
Next Post
Contact tracing: There’s an app for that

Contact tracing: There’s an app for that

Comments 5

  1. Andy says:
    12 months ago

    Beautiful. Let’s hope the tests are are trustworthy.

    Reply
  2. Mr Chill President of Pampering says:
    12 months ago

    When will you be doing a report on how Africans are suffering in China and about the Grenadian’s caught up in Wuhan at the start of the Covid COLD Crisis. We have not heard a word about them.

    Reply
  3. Stephane says:
    12 months ago

    Kris, the worthless kits were antigens kits based on the sars-cov-1.Most of the igg/igm kits are working.

    Reply
  4. Stephane says:
    12 months ago

    Kris, the worthless kits were a tige e kits based on the sars-cov-1.Most of the igg/ihm kits are working.

    Reply
  5. Kris says:
    12 months ago

    Who is the manufacturer of these antibody test kits from Venezuela?

    There are many inaccurate test kits in circulation, some are outright fraud. I suspect Venezuela didn’t make these tests themselves, so origin is likely China or Russia. Millions of Chinese test kits has been destroyed in Europe as they proved to be worthless.

    Reply

Comment on story Cancel reply

Please enter your valid email address.
Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Home Sidebar NP 300x250

© NOW Grenada. All Rights Reserved. Published by Aqua Design Inc. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

No Result
View All Result
  • Front Page
  • Categories
    • General News
      • All
      • Agriculture & Fisheries
      • Arts & Culture
      • Business
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • History
      • Lifestyle
      • Law
      • Politics
      • Technology
      • Travel & Tourism
      • Weather
      • Youth
    • Sports
      • All
      • Athletics
      • Cricket
      • Football
      • Watersports
    • Community
      • All
      • Tribute
    • Crime
    • Features
      • All
      • Today in History
    • Opinion/Commentary
    • Press Releases
      • All
      • Advertisements
      • Notices
  • Video
  • Notices & Vacancies
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us

Copyright NOW Grenada

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in settings. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

NOW Grenada
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful. Visit our Privacy Policy | Terms of Use.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.