There are no sticks, the diagnosis is made by eye
In October 2020, the Minister of Health of Ukraine Maxim Stepanov said: in order to establish a diagnosis of Covid-19, it is not necessary to undergo PCR testing.
“For one and a half or two months we have not had such an option as confirmation of mandatory PCR testing. According to clinical signs, the coronavirus is confirmed and both hospitalization and the treatment process occur. This is the issue that should be resolved on the spot,”the minister said.
According to Stepanov, the need for such a decision is due to the fact that, according to world statistics, in 30% of cases, PCR tests show a negative result with a confirmed diagnosis of Covid-19. This is due to the peculiarities of this type of testing and the physiological characteristics of a person.
But, according to doctors, the minister is dark. The real problem is that the country has run out of special sticks for taking material for PCR diagnostics from the nasopharynx. No, testing is done, but whatever, and the incidence rate due to poor-quality tests is not growing so rapidly. This allows the authorities to say that the situation remains under control.
As experts explain, PCR requires special sticks: a tip made of a patented material that easily absorbs the virus and easily gives it to the machine in the laboratory. Regular cotton wool is not suitable. It may absorb the virus, but it won't give it up.
No sticks - no tests.
You can buy sticks (Chinese, close to the original) for at least $ 1 apiece - this is 1/5 of the cost of the test. In Kharkov, they made homemade products, but the shop was closed. Although the dealers tried to make the fake look like the original, since in the accompanying documents for the products, the shop owners noted other, legal places of its manufacture. Discovered 200 thousand units of ready-made test kits, as well as raw materials for the production of another 400 thousand means for testing in the amount of about 1.2 million hryvnia (about 3.15 million rubles).
“Now they offer bullshit - sticks for 10-20 cents smuggling. To simulate a test for 1000 UAH (about 2800 rubles) is suitable. The problem is that the quality of the stick material is a guarantee that the laboratory will detect the virus. Otherwise - thrown away money, numerous repeated tests, etc.
No virus - no problem. False negative result. Simulated testing for hundreds of millions. By the way, this is a global problem, Trump said back in the spring: the number of sticks limits testing in the United States.
We used humanitarian aid and left sticks from Kharkov and China. Now there are many tests, many laboratories, but rods Cones with a certified buffer solution are also in short supply. Common salt solution is often bodyated. The virus dies quickly, and also a false negative result,”said human rights activist Viktor Serdyuk.
No test - no money
The problem turned out to be serious. The material for the sticks is specially made to easily absorb and release the material. There are only two manufacturers in the world, everything is contracted. In general, there is a deficit. This is where false negative test results come from.
True story: one of the doctors was ill with coronavirus. The first test was negative, although the picture was complete for covid - pneumonia and embolism. But since the test is "minus", the doctor is not entitled to payments.
Also, the family of the deceased physician-therapist from Pochaev Ivan Venzhinovich will not receive one and a half million hryvnia. The doctor who became the hero of the "Thank you for life" poster and who from the first days worked in the infectious diseases department, put hundreds of patients on their feet, died. The first time he contracted the coronavirus in the spring, the second time he contracted it in the fall, but this time the virus was more aggressive.
Only after the funeral of the doctor came the result of the PCR test, and it was negative. The family will not receive insurance for the death of a doctor who becomes infected in the workplace.
Abroad Ukraine will help with new express tests
Ukraine in the coming weeks may reach the level of 8000-9000 COVID-19 patients per day, Minister Stepanov said during a speech in parliament on October 20.
“The second level is when the bed capacity of the COVID-19 patient fund will be about 70% in the country as a whole. At the same time, the approximate daily number of patients with confirmed COVID-19 is 8-9 thousand. We may be at this level in the coming weeks. With 100 cases in April, we were forced to go to a lockdown, and now the system can withstand tens of thousands of patients,”said the head of the Ministry of Health.
Actually, the more tests show a negative result even with a clinical picture, the longer the government will be able to delay tightening quarantine measures. At the same time, elections to local councils will take place on October 25. Voters will risk their own health by going to polling stations.
However, even the delivery of a PCR test in private laboratories for a lot of money does not guarantee quality.
As Professor Yekaterina Amosova notes, in Ukrainian reality, it is not always possible to get to the hospital "with oxygen" without a positive PCR, and waiting for the test result can take a week. In addition, based on the fact that a negative PCR can be false negative in 10-30% of cases, regardless of its execution and result, self-isolation is recommended for 10-14 days - so as not to infect others.
And if a person is really bad (with a negative PCR), then there is still hope for CT, says the professor.
True, this week Ukraine should receive new rapid tests for the COVID-19 antigen, said Deputy Minister of Health - Chief State Sanitary Doctor Viktor Lyashko.
“In addition to PCR testing, there are now new rapid antigen tests. They are recognized by WHO and are recommended for use in mass testing. We are doing our best so that in the near future these tests will appear in Ukraine, which will be free for people, can be used by a family doctor, a mobile team. Upon admission to the hospital, a doctor can immediately make a test, because its duration is 15-30 minutes and without special laboratory conditions,”said Lyashko.
But no one has heard of new tests yet. All are still being sent for PCR testing, the results of which are questionable.
