Despite being introduced to the Maldives, the Health Ministry has said that they have not yet given the permission to do the BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag CARD tests in the Maldives which gets the results of the test within 15 minutes.

The testing kit designed by the USA-based Abbott company was introduced to the Maldives by the brand’s distributor in the Maldives, MedTech.

Deputy Director General of the Health Ministry, Thasleema Usman told One Online today that the test kits have been for the ministry’s approval and it has been passed on to the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) for the necessary inspections before being approved for use.

Abbott company has said that they have the testing sensitivity of 97.1 percent with a specificity of 98.5 percent. Designed to a size similar to that of a credit card, it is currently being used in USA and Europe for COVID-19 testing.