Rapid testing will be done when borders open – Dr. McIntyre

Dr. McIntyre on the Anou Palay programme

Health Minister, Dr. Irving McIntrye, has said that rapid testing will be done on visitors and nationals entering Dominica once the borders are opened.

He was speaking with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on his weekly Anou Palay programme.

The country’s borders are expected to open in July.

“What we think would be the ideal thing is prior to coming here we would love that you have a PCR test done, preferably within 72 hours,” he said. “And we also have the online questionnaire that the person has to fill out.”

According to Dr. McIntyre, this questionnaire has all the information as to the individual’s address and where they have been before during the previous 14 days and where they worked.

“That is important to us, their different social habits and based on that questionnaire, we will have an idea in which category do you fit, low, high, medium and then we can take measures accordingly,” he explained.

The minister advised that people coming in should get a PCR (polymerise chain reaction) test which tells whether or not someone has the virus very early on.

“When you come here we are still doing a rapid test and based on the results of the rapid test, we can decide where we filter you,” he said.

According to Dr. McIntyre, the rapid test can be done within 10 to 15 minutes.

“So we have devised a plan, we would have someone doing the documentation, someone doing the testing so that we can get it done in a much quicker period of time,” he explained. “If you have a positive IgM which means you may be likely to have it [the coronavirus], then we have to do swabbing.”

Swabbing ann be done at the Environmental Health Office at the Douglas-Charles [Airport].

Dr. McIntyre explained further that if the person is IgM positive it is very likely that they could have been in contact with someone with Covid-19 recently.

“So this person goes to the secondary screening site, this person doesn’t enter the terminal where we can do a PCR test and this person goes to the quarantine facility or a designated facility by the government until we get the results in 24 hours,” he indicated. “If the person is positive IgG that means they have immunity and then they are free to go through the terminal.”

He said if the person is both positive for IgG and TgM, then that person is still followed up.

“That is where the surveillance in their district and at the hotels is of paramount importance,” Dr. McIntyre stated.

He said the authorities now have the confidence to send Dominicans to their homes or residences because of the availability of the rapid test. However, he said all of this information goes out to the district team for monitoring.

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8 Comments

  1. Steph
    July 12, 2020

    I ♥️ 🇩🇲. Please don’t be in a rush to open. Florida had 15,000 new cases of Covid TODAY alone. I am in 🇨🇦 waiting to return to Dominica. Canada and Mexico are closed to America as are a 100 other countries in the world! Be patient. Be vigilant.

  2. roxanne maxwell
    July 7, 2020

    So if nationals have been stuck in other islands for over 4 months where are they expected to get money to pay to get these tests done especially if the family consists of more than one person.

    why not mandatory quarantine at government facilities and even charge a small fee?

  3. My little take
    July 5, 2020

    I hope Dr. McIntyre’ diagnosis and prescription when he was a medical doctor, was not as bad and terrible as it has been as a politician who is nothing but a suitiwe and cover-up for Skerrit.

  4. MG
    July 4, 2020

    More clarity needed. Is the test prior to travelling compulsory or advisory? In the UK, the only way you can get an NHS test is if you’re a British national and have Covid symptoms. The questions are therefore a) what do Dominican nationals stranded in the UK do if they cannot obtain an NHS Covid test in the UK – because they are not eligible as non-British tax payers? b) what do British passport holders with no symptoms – because they have been staying indoors and not putting themselves at risk – do? You can only obtain a test if you have symptoms.

    Are people going to be turned back at the border if, for one of the two circumstances outlined above, they have not been eligible to obtain an NHS test in England?

  5. positive traveller
    July 4, 2020

    i echo the previous comment. excellent news. I need to complete the online questionnaire but have noidea where to find it and how quickly it needs to be completed before travel

  6. Nkrumah Kwame
    July 3, 2020

    Excellent news!! Now, where can I find the questionnaire on line. Anyone can assist?
    HOTEP!

  7. Maybe
    July 3, 2020

    Is that the Chinese kit you all have that was giving wrong readings around hospitals in the us

  8. Patti
    July 3, 2020

    Where does one find the government form?

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