Pharmacies in São Paulo report lack of rapid Covid-19 tests

With the increase in cases of flu and the Ômicron variant of the coronavirus in São Paulo, rapid tests for the detection of Covid-19 in the city’s pharmacies begin to lack. The lack of diagnosis for respiratory syndromes presented by the population worries physicians.

Designer Vinícius Martin is one of the residents of the city of São Paulo who had difficulties in detecting what he had. He was only able to test against Covid-19 two days after experiencing the first symptoms.

“I decided to go to the pharmacy so I could get a quick test. I went to three pharmacies, I hadn’t been able to. At the fourth pharmacy I entered, I managed to take a test because the person was late and then the nurse saw me. And it was positive for the Covid test”, he said.

The same happened with the commercial consultant Natália Borba, who started looking for tests in pharmacies after her boyfriend tested positive for the virus.

“I’ve already looked for two pharmacies to try to test and have this answer whether I was there or not and I couldn’t, there was no availability. The first time I found here in the central region was for Saturday [8]”, he stated.

The consultant said that she also found it difficult to carry out the test in hospitals. “At the hospital they don’t do the test either; I tried to go to the emergency room and, as I don’t have symptoms, I don’t have an immediate answer for that”.

The Ômicron variant is spreading rapidly across the country, and in less than a month the number of tests carried out in Brazilian pharmacies has almost tripled. According to the Brazilian Association of Pharmacy and Drugstore Chains (Abrafarma), 9,400 tests were carried out on the first day of December 2021.

On December 29, there were nearly 26 thousand tests carried out in the country. The positive results also increased more than tenfold.

For experts, rapid tests are important to help control the pandemic. But tests that were done on the spot can now take up to five days to schedule.

With a simultaneous outbreak of Covid-19 and flu, many people from São Paulo feel the symptoms, but without a precise diagnosis they do not know how to act.

The infectologist and president of the Brazilian Society of Immunizations (SBIm), Renato Kfouri, said that detection is the best way to distinguish the flu from Covid-19.

“The best measure to distinguish flu from Covid would be the test. It can be the quick test, the one that takes just a few minutes, or the PCR. Both from collecting nasal secretions. With the search, especially at the end of the year, by many to test themselves, it is lacking and it is not always possible to make this diagnosis as we would like.”

The State Health Department reported that São Paulo received 800,000 antigen tests from the Ministry of Health, the rapid tests, and distribution to municipalities has already begun.

The secretariat of the capital of São Paulo denied that rapid or PCR tests are lacking in the public network, and stated that the most effective measure to contain the transmission of the disease is the immediate isolation of suspected cases.

Reference: CNN Brasil

You may also like