Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has granted Alltest an extension of its shelf life of 24 months. The Real-Time Stability Study was submitted alongside the application for the extension. This comprehensive study spanned over two years and focused on evaluating the performance of the Alltest ART. It assessed the device's true response under specific storage conditions, aiming to determine its ability to deliver accurate and reliable results consistently.
Refer to this page to determine the actual expiration date of your Alltest ART.
]]>The Health Sciences Authority (HSA) has granted Alltest an extension of its shelf life of 24 months. The ALLTEST SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test (Nasal swab) kits in your possession may now have a longer expiry than the labeled product expiry date.
These batches were originally dated with an expiry of 15 months, and study support for 24 months extension has been reviewed by HSA. As a result, users of Alltest can be assured that Alltest has met regulatory requirements in Singapore. By extending the shelf life of Alltest, users can have confidence in the reliability and quality of the product, as it continues to provide accurate and efficient testing for SARS-CoV-2.
Please note that if you currently possess Alltest ART kits, they may now have a shelf life longer than the labeled expiry date.
Thank you for your attention, and we remain committed to providing you with safe and reliable testing solutions.
In early 2023, a new rising Omicron subvariant called XBB.1.5 appears to be the most transmissible strain of the virus so far. Cases are also believed to be rising with people spending more time in doors and attending recent holiday gatherings, with fewer wearing masks and taking other mitigation measures. Experts are still trying to better understand XBB.1.5 and other Omicron subvariants, such as BQ 1.1. and BA.5, which continue to circulate. They are also monitoring more than 300 other descendants of Omicron around the world.
First, some background. Omicron was initially identified in Botswana and South Africa in November 2021—although later reports showed earlier cases in the Netherlands. On December 1, the CDC confirmed the first case in the U.S., in an individual in California who had returned from South Africa in November. Omicron was the predominant strain in the U.S. by late December. As people around the world welcomed a new year, the variant continued to surge more quickly than any previous strain in many areas. Both the WHO and the CDC classified it as a "variant of concern."
Early reports from South Africa indicated that most cases were mild—and that symptoms for this variant seemed to be different. “The reports show that patients in South Africa—many of whom were young—have had severe fatigue, but no loss of taste or smell,” says Lauren Ferrante, MD, a Yale Medicine pulmonologist.
But some people infected with Omicron still developed severe disease and had to go to the hospital, and some died. For that reason, experts continued to express concerns that a large volume of cases in a particular area could overwhelm medical centers, making it difficult to treat severe cases.
From the beginning, two important questions about Omicron were top of mind for scientists, says Dr. Murray. As new variants have emerged, the first question has been how transmissible each one is compared to its predecessor.
According to the CDC, the Omicron variant spreads more easily than the original SARS-CoV-2 virus and the Delta variant. In its early days, the variant caused an alarming spike in COVID-19 cases in South Africa—they went from 300 a day in mid-November 2021 to 3,000 a day at the end of that month. In the first months of 2022, an Omicron subvariant called BA.2 began to spread even faster than other Omicron subvariants, followed by BA.4 and BA.5, only to be outdone by the BQ subvariants.
The second question has been whether Omicron and its subvariants are more likely than their predecessors to cause severe disease. While there is more to learn about the latest variants, experts are hoping prior immunity will be of some help. The original Omicron caused a record number of cases, but while it has also caused its share of hospitalizations and deaths, factors such as lengths of hospital stays, ICU admittance, and death were “lower than during previous pandemic peaks,” according to a CDC report in January 2022.
The CDC says the presence of severity of symptoms can be affected by vaccination, history of prior infection, and age and other health conditions.
People need to understand that variants like Omicron are a natural part of the progression of the virus, Grubaugh says.
New variants aren’t surprising, he says. No one can predict how they might evolve—or if they will simply vanish at some point. “Delta was never going to be the last variant—and Omicron is not going to be the last one," Grubaugh says. "As long as there is a COVID-19 outbreak somewhere in the world, there is going to be something new that emerges.”
Source: https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/5-things-to-know-omicron
]]>This means there will be no vaccination-differentiated restrictions for:
"(The measures have) served us well in our journey to safe reopening," said MOH.
Singapore has significantly eased COVID-19 measures, with mask-wearing not required except on public transport, as well as in healthcare and residential care settings.
Group size limits and safe-distancing measures have also been lifted. SafeEntry and TraceTogether requirements were also removed for most settings.
All employees are allowed to return to the workplace, and the Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) level was lowered from Orange to Yellow after more than two years.
The DORSCON framework, which gives an indication of the current disease situation, was raised to Orange on Feb 7, 2020, at the start of the pandemic.
MOH also reminded members of the public to continue to remain vigilant and be ready to respond to any dangerous new variants, even as most safe management measures are eased.
It added that should the situation worsen, necessary measures may be put in place at "short notice" to protect the public, safeguard healthcare workers and conserve hospital capacity.
This may include "standing up" an appropriate level of vaccination-differentiated measures, as was necessary during the height of the pandemic.
MOH noted that as of Thursday, average daily infections in the community over a seven-day period rose from around 2,600 a week ago to 4,400.
Hospitalised cases have also increased from 247 a week ago to 342, and the number of Intensive Care Unit cases increased from nine to 13 in the same period.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/japan-reopen-tourists-shuttered-souvenir-shops-hotel-staff-shortage-2998831
]]>The biggest enemy today is not the Covid-19 virus but complacency and letting one's guard down because life seems back to normal, said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung.
Noting that Asean member states have managed to weather the storm thanks to close cooperation, he suggested focusing on testing and surveillance, vaccinations as well as ensuring the resilience of travel lanes and supply chains to prepare for future threats.
Mr Ong was speaking at the 15th Health Ministers Meeting and Related Meetings in Bali on Saturday (May 14). He and his Asean counterparts shared updates and exchanged views on strengthening healthcare systems in the region to improve the collective preparedness to pandemics.
"In the coming few months, we are all likely to see new waves in our countries, either a resurgence of the Omicron wave as our societal immunity wanes, or a new variant that drives reinfections.
"A more dangerous threat is a new virus, which is bound to come as human activities continue to encroach into nature, and humans and animals continue to come into close contact," said Mr Ong.
To be better prepared than member states were when Covid-19 first struck, Mr Ong suggested enhancing testing and surveillance.
Calling the establishment of the Asean Centre for Public Health Emergencies and Emerging Diseases a breakthrough, he said: "This forms the nucleus of a regular monitoring and good surveillance capabilities and response system in our region. This will give us early warning of new Covid-19 variants of concern and other emerging infectious diseases."
Mr Ong also noted the importance of making vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics available and urged members to not stop vaccination and booster shot programmes as immunity will wane over time, and there is a risk that current vaccines will be less effective against the next variant of concern.
Asean can also collaborate better to ensure that vaccine supplies are available to those who need them, such as by doing more to facilitate vaccine donations and swops among member states, said Mr Ong.
He also encouraged members to ensure the resilience of travel lanes and supply chains since the pandemic contributed to an unprecedented rise in shipping costs, which has not subsided, as well as disrupted travel.
Mr Ong said the establishment of an Asean mutual recognition system for vaccine certificates was discussed over the weekend-long meeting.
He noted that after establishing such a system, similar systems can be forged with other regions, such as the United States, China, India and the European Union.
"Checking for vaccination certifications may well be the norm for travel, just as we check our bags and our passports," he said.
During the weekend trip, Mr Ong held bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.
He said: "Singapore looks forward to continuing to work closely with Asean member states in our efforts and accelerate our response to be ready for the next Covid-19 wave, or even the next pandemic."
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/covid-19-is-not-the-biggest-enemy-today-its-complacency-ong-ye-kung
]]>The Alltest Antigen Rapid Test (ART) are now available at Guardian, Cold Storage, Giant, Sheng Siong, Market Place, National Healthcare Group Pharmacy, Prime Supermarket, Amazon.sg, Lazada, Shopee, Redmart and 7-Eleven.
COVID-19 has exposed and deepened the inequality between the less fortunate and privileged ones. The evolving COVID-19 situation has affected Singaporeans in one way or another, including individuals facing the loss of income or families struggling with additional caregiving duties and additional expenses for essential items.
Alcotech is committed to strengthening humanity by uplifting communities. We want to support thriving communities through donations. These contributions include donating ART kits for the residents and front-liners in Melrose Care Children's Aid Society and Yong-en care centre. We hope that our ability to serve vulnerable communities in Singapore empowers the less fortunate in our community and inspires more of us to help build a path toward recovery and resilience.
]]>GENEVA: The pandemic is far from over, the WHO's leader insisted Wednesday (Mar 9), two years after he first used the term to wake the world up to the emerging threat of COVID-19.
The World Health Organization's director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus first described COVID-19 as a pandemic on Mar 11, 2020.
Two years on, he lamented how the virus was still evolving and surging in some parts of the world.
The WHO declared a public health emergency of international concern - the highest level of alarm in the UN health agency's regulations - on Jan 30, 2020, when, outside of China, fewer than 100 cases and no deaths had been reported.
But it was only the use of the word pandemic six weeks on that seemed to shake many countries into action.
"Two years later, more than 6 million people have died," Tedros told a press conference, while nearly 444 million cases have been registered.
"Although reported cases and deaths are declining globally, and several countries have lifted restrictions, the pandemic is far from over - and it will not be over anywhere until it's over everywhere."
He noted the 46 per cent rise in new cases last week in the WHO's Western Pacific region, where 3.9 million infections were recorded.
"The virus continues to evolve, and we continue to face major obstacles in distributing vaccines, tests and treatments everywhere they are needed," Tedros said.
He also sounded a warning on the recent plunge in testing rates, saying it left the planet blind to what COVID-19 was up to.
"WHO is concerned that several countries are drastically reducing testing," Tedros said.
"This inhibits our ability to see where the virus is, how it's spreading and how it's evolving."
The number of fresh cases fell 5 per cent worldwide last week compared to the week before, while the number of deaths dropped 8 per cent.
However, Maria Van Kerkhove, the WHO's COVID-19 technical lead, warned that the case rate was certainly an underestimate due the dramatic drop-off in testing.
"The virus is still spreading at far too intensive a level, three years into this pandemic," she said.
"Even though we are seeing declining trends ... there were still more than 10 million reported cases reported at a global level last week.
"We have to remain vigilant."
In its weekly update on the spread of the virus, the WHO said earlier that the Omicron variant had "global dominance" over other mutations of the virus.
The WHO said Omicron accounted for 99.7 per cent of samples collected in the last 30 days that have been sequenced and uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative.
The WHO says unequal access to COVID-19 vaccines, tests and treatments remains rampant and is prolonging the pandemic.
On jabs, the WHO's latest figures show 23 countries are yet to fully immunise 10 per cent of their populations, while 73 countries are yet to achieve the 40 per cent coverage target set for the start of 2022.
Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/covid19-2-years-who-warns-pandemic-far-over-2552781
]]>Retailers have also been doing their part to replenish their shelves with the kits and have yet to impose a quota on the number individuals can buy.
A Watsons spokesman said with the recent surge in Covid-19 cases, it has seen a close to threefold jump in demand for the kits in February compared with January.
Guardian saw demand almost doubling from January to February. A spokesman said: "We encourage customers to purchase only what they need to ensure there is sufficient stock for everyone."
A FairPrice spokesman noted how demand has been "elevated", adding that this could be due to both the rise in Covid-19 cases and public awareness of the importance of regular testing amid the evolving pandemic situation.
Checks by The Straits Times on Wednesday afternoon showed that about 60 of the 178 collection venues dispensing free ART kits to those who need to self-test have low stock, are running out of stock or are out of stock.
Professor Dale Fisher, a senior infectious disease consultant at the National University Hospital, said having more brands of Covid-19 kits in the market will keep prices and supplies stable.
He added: "Antigen rapid tests are very empowering in helping individuals know if they have Covid-19. This can guide personal decision-making about visiting hospitals, large gatherings and vulnerable family members."
Even though most workers no longer have to undergo rostered routine testing, Prof Fisher added that Covid-19 testing will remain useful for those working in high-risk settings such as hospitals and nursing homes.
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/health/two-new-covid-19-art-kits-available-in-stores-from-march
]]>The performance requirements - aligned with technical specifications published by the World Health Organisation and the European Commission - includes a minimum clinical sensitivity of at least 80 per cent.
This is based on the test’s positive per cent agreement (PPA) - the proportion of individuals that produced a positive test result using a COVID-19 rapid antigen self-test, compared to those with a positive result by PCR test.
The theory is that the greater the sensitivity, the greater chance it has at detecting COVID-19, the less chance of a false negative.
“Acceptable sensitivity” indicates a clinical sensitivity greater than 80 per cent PPA, ‘high sensitivity’ greater than 90 per cent PPA and “very high sensitivity” greater than 95 per cent PPA.
Infectious disease expert Paul Griffin told Sunrise that as time passes, and access and availability increase, “it would be best to use the one that has the highest performance that you can find and afford”.
The All Test SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Test (Nasal Swab) (ICOV-502H) Self-Test has been given a “very high sensitivity” label.
Source: https://7news.com.au/lifestyle/health-wellbeing/australias-best-covid-rapid-antigen-tests-as-rated-by-the-therapeutic-goods-administration-c-5337860
]]>TOKYO (THE STATESMAN/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The highly contagious Omicron variant can survive up to eight days on plastic and 21 hours on skin - a much longer period of time than other variants of concern like Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta, as well as the original strain, according to a study.
The pre-print study, which has not yet been peer-reviewed, analysed the differences in viral environmental stability between the Sars-CoV-2 strain first detected in Wuhan and all variants of concern (VOCs).
The findings showed that on plastic and skin surfaces, the Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron variants exhibited more than twofold longer survival times than those of the strain in Wuhan and maintained infectivity for more than 16 hours on the skin surfaces.
Omicron survived 21.1 hours on skin models from cadavers, followed by the original strain (8.6 hours) and the Gamma (11 hours) and Delta (16.8 hours) variants.
The survival of Alpha (19.6 hours) and Beta (19.1 hours) was found to be similar.
"The Omicron variant has the highest environmental stability among the VOCs," said researchers from the Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine in Japan.
"This high stability might also be one of the factors that have allowed the Omicron variant to replace the Delta variant and spread rapidly," they said.
Further, the team found that Omicron can survive 193.5 hours (about eight days) on a plastic (polystyrene) surface, more than three times that of the original strain (56 hours) and the Gamma variant (59.3 hours), and significantly more than Delta (114 hours) and Beta (156.6 hours). Only the Alpha variant, with 191.3 hours, showed similar resistance.
The researchers said that the high environmental stability of these VOCs could increase the risk of contact transmission and contribute to the spread of VOCs.
The study also showed that although the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants showed a slight increase in ethanol resistance, all VOCs on the skin surface were completely inactivated in 15 seconds of exposure to alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
The researchers highly recommended hand hygiene practices and the use of disinfectants with appropriate alcohol concentrations, as proposed by the World Health Organisation.
This study also acknowledged limitations, such as the relationship between the amount of virus remaining on the surface and the risk of transmission, which is still unclear at this stage. Therefore, it might be reasonable to interpret the value of survival time in this study as a reference value, the researchers said.
SINGAPORE - General practitioner (GP) clinics that remained open over the Chinese New Year holiday saw a surge in walk-in patients, some with acute respiratory infection (ARI).
Chief executive of Northeast Medical Group, Dr Tan Teck Jack, told The Straits Times that one of the eight clinics it operates saw more than 10 positive antigen rapid test (ART) cases on Wednesday morning (Feb 2).
"The safe management measures need to be in place and respected to prevent a further surge in Covid-19 cases," added Dr Tan.
Parkway Shenton Medical Group said three of its clinics that were open on Tuesday (Feb 1) and Wednesday - the first and second day of Chinese New Year - saw three times as many patients as they did in early January.
Medical director of Parkway Shenton, Dr Edwin Chng, said: "The GP clinics saw much longer queues and an influx of patients with ARI cases.
"In fact, our clinic in Punggol ran out of ART kits and we had to move stocks from other clinics.
"The surge in numbers was probably due to closure of most other clinics during Chinese New Year."
Clinics reported long queues even as the Ministry of Health (MOH) announced on Saturday that 988 GP clinics will be operating from Monday to Wednesday.
Northeast Medical Group's Dr Tan said the group's eight clinics were already seeing a spike in patient numbers in the week leading up to Chinese New Year.
He said it could be due to fewer clinics remaining open over the holiday period.
"We suspect Thursday is a working day for most, and that's when many will visit the clinics.
"We urge those who are sick to be patient with doctors and clinic staff and also encourage those who have non-urgent conditions to not choke the queue," said Dr Tan.
He added that employers can help by giving their staff time off instead of insisting on medical certificates issued by doctors.
The Northeast Medical clinics have also seen two to three times more Covid-19 cases than at the start of the year.
But Dr Tan added that the patients have mostly been displaying mild symptoms.
The daily community infection rate has been on the rise.
Singapore reported 6,120 new community coronavirus cases on Tuesday, up from 4,241 the day before.
Experts ST spoke to said that daily Covid-19 cases could cross the 10,000 mark in the coming weeks despite muted Chinese New Year celebrations.
But Associate Professor Jeremy Lim said Singapore has been expecting and preparing for the surge, and added that 99.7 per cent of Covid-19 cases are overwhelmingly asymptomatic or afflicted with very mild symptoms.
"The health system capacity is still well within safety bounds," said Prof Lim, who is the director of the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health in National University of Singapore.
"What's most important is still to protect the vulnerable, vaccinate and boost as many as we can, and exercise prudence in our daily activities."
President of the Asia Pacific Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infection, Professor Paul Tambyah, agreed.
He said: "I do not think that the public should be overly concerned.
"The focus should still be on protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that the elderly who are not well get to see a doctor in time."
Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/gps-see-surge-in-number-of-patients-over-cny-holidays-some-with-respiratory-infection
]]>The TGA's performance requirements for COVID rapid antigen self-tests are internationally aligned with technical specifications published by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the European Commission. This includes a minimum clinical sensitivity of at least 80% (for specimens collected within 7 days of symptom onset) and a minimum clinical specificity of at least 98%.
To provide an indication of the performance of COVID-19 rapid antigen self-tests, the table below includes information on the clinical sensitivity of each test. This is based on the studies performed by the manufacturer which show the positive percent agreement (PPA). PPA is the proportion of individuals that produced a positive test result using a COVID-19 rapid antigen self-test, in comparison with a positive result that was obtained using a more sensitive laboratory PCR test.
The inclusion of this information does not represent TGA endorsement of a particular test as all approved tests meet the performance requirements. The manufacturer's sensitivity information is also included in the instructions provided with each test and can be viewed by clicking on the links in table below.
For each test a comment on the clinical sensitivity is assigned as follows:
Source: https://www.tga.gov.au/covid-19-rapid-antigen-self-tests-are-approved-australia
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