{"id":5504,"date":"2021-03-02T19:18:55","date_gmt":"2021-03-02T19:18:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?p=5504"},"modified":"2021-03-02T18:04:09","modified_gmt":"2021-03-02T18:04:09","slug":"why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","title":{"rendered":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – South-Africa<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

In an effort to curb infections and prevent a third wave, Public Health England announced last week that free rapid Covid tests will be offered to the families of all learners in the country under plans to reopen schools from 8 March.<\/p>\n

Medical Director at Public Health England Professor Yvonne Doyle said in a press release that the rapid testing would help “uncover hidden cases”.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese rapid tests will help break chains of transmission, stopping outbreaks before they occur. Combined with other protective measures, they are a vital tool to help us lower infection rates and ensure that they stay low,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Public Health England said the rapid testing will continue to be a vital part of their response to Covid-19.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we cautiously ease restrictions in England, starting with the return of schools and moving towards more social mixing at the end of March, we need to be sure that each Covid-19 case is found as quickly and as easily as possible.<\/p>\n

\u2019\u2019Although cases are declining, everyone needs to play their part to keep the virus under control while keeping children and young people in school,\u201d read a statement on the health department\u2019s website.<\/p>\n

South Africa was moved to alert level 1 on Monday with an easing of restrictions on gatherings, the sale of alcohol and curfew. However, there remains a serious threat of a third wave of Covid-19 infections.<\/p>\n

President Cyril Ramaphosa said in his address to the nation on Sunday evening: \u201cThe easing of restrictions should not be viewed as a reason to abandon precautions. The threat of a third wave is constantly present, as is the threat of yet more new variants.\u201d<\/p>\n

Epicentre Health Research regional manager Johan van den Berg says rapid tests are not widely available, but they could be a quick and perfect solution to increase testing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rapid tests could definitely help, we are going to be doing a validation study soon to determine their accuracy. With the PCR tests, there is a time delay, you need to send it to the lab. With the antigen test, it is rapid and you could have results within an hour or two,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The differences between PCR, antigen and antibody testing<\/b><\/p>\n

Currently, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are the \u201cgold standard\u201d or the most common way that global healthcare systems are testing citizens for Covid-19. These tests require a swab from the back of your nose or throat as a sample which is then sent to a laboratory. This process can take hours and requires sophisticated lab equipment and technicians.<\/p>\n

Antigen tests \u2014 often referred to as rapid tests \u2014 do not require a laboratory for results of a Covid-19 test. A throat swab is mixed with a solution that unleashes specific viral proteins specific to the coronavirus. It can be done in a clinic, doctor\u2019s office or hospital. Turnaround time for results is usually quick and can take up to 30 minutes.<\/p>\n

Antibody test kits analyse blood to detect Covid-19 antibodies that are formed by the immune system in response to a past infection with the virus. They are useful in picking up evidence that a person had the virus even if they were asymptomatic.<\/p>\n

According to Epicentre Health Research, a rapid Covid-19 antibody test can help you:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to curb infections and prevent a third wave, Public Health England announced last week that free rapid Covid tests will be offered to the families of all learners in the country […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8],"tags":[274,315,275],"class_list":["post-5504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-south-africa","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"404\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\"},\"wordCount\":574,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-South-Africa\",\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\",\"name\":\"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA - South Africa\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":404,\"caption\":\"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/\",\"name\":\"South Africa\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA - South Africa","description":"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA","og_description":"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","og_site_name":"South Africa","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":404,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA","datePublished":"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa"},"wordCount":574,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-South-Africa","South-Africa"],"articleSection":["all news","files","homepage-english"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa","name":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA - South Africa","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg","datePublished":"2021-03-02T19:18:55+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Testing for Covid-19 has considerable value when it comes to trying to contain the spread of the virus. In an effort to ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2021\/03\/img-603e7dff186df.jpg","width":720,"height":404,"caption":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/why-rapid-covid-19-testing-could-be-beneficial-for-sa#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why rapid Covid-19 testing could be beneficial for SA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/","name":"South Africa","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}