Health Protection Agency (HPA) has granted the Maldivian distributor for the USA-based Abbott company, MedTech Maldives, the permission to use BinaxNOW COVID-19 Ag CARD testing in the country.

MedTech made the announcement on Twitter last night.

The company said that the testing arrangement with the use of the available Abbot rapid antigen tests under the HPA-set regulations.

They said that the Panbio COVID-19 Ag Card is a fast and reliable COVID-19 antigen test card that delivers results in 15 minutes without any additional equipment.

HPA approval said that the test has to be made within seven days of exhibiting symptoms. And if the test is done after five days of exhibiting symptoms, the result needs to be verified with a PCR test.

Talking to One Online, the Deputy Director General of the Health Ministry, Thasleema Usman said that the testing have not been approved for a specific company but those who meet the conditions in the regulations set by the HPA.

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.