The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) confirmed to RTP 1 today that a change will be made to the Covid-19 testing criteria.
Until now, testing was recommended for anyone who had high-risk contact with a positive case.
The testing strategy could soon be more comprehensive, with a diagnostic test recommended regardless of the risk of contact.
Marta Temido said in Parliament today that increasing testing for COVID-19 should be one of the priorities to stop the pandemic.
There shouldn’t be the restriction that was in force until now of carrying out a test “on what is a contact classified as at risk in the epidemiological assessment”, and it should be evaluated which test to apply, within “what are the various types of tests on the market”, she concluded.
With regard to the labor context, the hypothesis of applying a testing strategy to sectors that are not at a standstill at the moment, such as construction, was raised.
Marta Temido said that “massive testing in sectors of economic activity that are not at a standstill at the moment should be considered.”
Occupational health teams play a crucial role in companies to promote diagnosis and help with the early detection of transmission chains.
SEPRI – Medicina no Trabalho will await further official guidance from the Directorate-General for Health on this issue in order to deepen the monitoring it has already been carrying out with its client companies, in line with the new national strategy.
It is also important to note that today more voices were heard in Parliament in favor of testing as a crucial tool for controlling the pandemic.
Epidemiologist Manuel do Carmo Gomes has already argued that testing is the “main weapon” in the fight against SARS-CoV-2. Lacerda Sales, on the other hand, says that “it is very important to test, test, test, because it will then allow us, upstream of the situation – which is at the level of the crawlers and at the level of screening – to act, as we have been acting, to isolate what are the infected cases and the cohabiting cases and their high-risk cases.”
Sources and more information at: Renascença and Antena 1
