On March 11, the Comprehensive Group of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council in Response to the Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia Epidemic issued the "Application Plan for Antigen Detection of the New Coronavirus (Trial)", promoting the monitoring mode of "antigen screening and nucleic acid diagnosis" and adding antigen detection as a supplement to nucleic acid testing. At present, 5 new coronavirus antigen self-test products have been approved for domestic listing. On March 14, Suning Tesco, Tmall, JD.com, Meituan and many other e-commerce platforms can search for the new crown antigen self-testing agent box products, most of which are "reservation purchases", and a few platforms have been able to purchase directly.
The foreign new crown self-test model has attracted much attention
It is understood that in overseas antigen detection technology is widely used in home testing, compared with nucleic acid detection, antigen detection is more convenient and cheap. In January 2022, the United States launched a home testing program, while European countries such as Germany, France, and Belgium have begun to use antigen detection reagents for home self-testing on a large scale in 2021. This antigen detection method, which was judged to be "useless" in the early epidemic, was quickly widely recognized after the Opmi kerong pandemic, and the huge demand for testing was released. With the global popularity of antigen self-testing, more and more international students and overseas Chinese are sharing their antigen self-testing process on various social media.
Antigen detection is convenient, low cost, and can be sampled at home, results can be produced in 15-20 minutes, and with home isolation can greatly reduce the risk of mobile transmission. And with the arrival of the "more moderate" Omicron, this "home self-test + home isolation" model is more mature. In addition, European countries, Australia, Japan, India, Indonesia, Australia, Israel, etc. have or are promoting antigen testing in China, and the United Kingdom, Singapore, Brazil, France, Italy, etc. have taken antigen test results as one of the entry criteria.
At the moment when the epidemic continues to repeat, some international students reflect that some cities will have self-test boxes out of stock, or need to wait for several days, and the place where nucleic acid testing is booked, especially the point of free testing, also need to queue up or make an appointment. In comparison, masks, alcohol and other materials are more abundant. In response to the shortage of self-test kits, the Biden administration began distributing free COVID-19 test kits online on January 19. And Biden said that he has instructed the U.S. government to purchase another 500 million kits on the basis of the previous 500 million kits, and the total number of purchases is not capped.
The self-test box needs to pay attention to the safety of use
In foreign countries, as the government began to distribute test kits to the public for free, rapid test kits have become one of the must-have items for every household, although this product can help quickly detect COVID-19, but test solvents can pose danger! Especially for international students who test at home, they need to pay attention to the safety of use.
In February, Health Canada's Poison Control Centre received about 50 phone reports related to accidental exposures that had led to minor health problems. The Ministry of Health considers these kits to be safe and effective for use as required, but the kits come with liquid solutions containing chemical preservatives, including Sodium Azide and Proclin, which, if swallowed or absorbed by the skin, can be toxic, especially for children and pets. Small doses of Sodium Azide can lower blood pressure, while large doses can lead to more serious health effects. Proclin contains chemicals that can irritate the skin and eyes as well as allergic reactions.
The Ministry of Health reminds the public to pay attention to the following points when using rapid test boxes:
Keep the rapid antigen test kit and solution out of reach of children and pets
Do not swallow the solution and avoid eye and skin contact
Wash your hands thoroughly after use
If the solution spills out, rinse off with clean water
Operate correctly in strict accordance with the instructions on the instructions
Report any health-related side effects or complaints to Health Canada
If chemicals are accidentally ingested or come into direct contact with the skin, contact your local poison control center
Since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in the mainland, nucleic acid testing has been the basis for the diagnosis of the new crown virus infection, and now antigen detection has been added as a supplementary means, and community residents who have self-testing needs can purchase antigen detection reagents for self-testing through retail pharmacies, online sales platforms and other channels. This means that in the future, residents do not have to go to the nucleic acid testing point to detect nucleic acids, and they can test themselves at home after purchasing antigen detection reagents.
Recently, many places have erupted again, confirmed cases have emerged in an endless stream, and at 0-24:00 on March 13, 31 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government) and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps reported 1437 new confirmed cases. Among them, there are 100 imported cases, 1337 local cases, and up to 895 confirmed cases in Jilin Province.
The convenient and fast self-test method can alleviate the troubles of residents doing nucleic acids frequently. Whether it is in China or overseas, students must pay attention to epidemic prevention and control and protect their own safety.
Source: People's Daily, Tmall Health, Beijing Youth Daily, The Paper, etc., the pictures come from the Internet, such as invasion and deletion.
Reporter: Liu Yu
Producer: Li Xuan
Editor-in-charge: Yang Dongni