Photo/Illutration An antigen test kit distributed by the Kanagawa prefectural government (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Hospitals have the top priority for COVID-19 antigen test kits that are in short supply in Japan, the health ministry announced on Jan. 27.

The ministry requested wholesalers and other distributors who handle the testing kits to supply them based on its priority order.

Testing for people with symptoms is the top priority, according to the ministry.

“We took this measure to ensure that people with symptoms can take the tests,” said health minister Shigeyuki Goto.

The ministry expects that drug stores will receive fewer testing kits and hospitals will obtain more.

But it is not known what effect the priority ranking will have on alleviating the current shortage.

The ministry is asking test kit manufacturers to produce as many as possible and promises that the government will buy the extra kits if they remain unsold.

Under the priority system, at the top is medical institutions that conduct tests for people with symptoms. Another top priority is nursing care facilities for the elderly, where the spread of the coronavirus poses higher risks.

The shipping service of test kits, with which people with symptoms can test themselves before seeing a doctor, also comes first.

The second priority is placed on testing to shorten the isolation periods for essential workers who had close contact with COVID-19 patients. Essential workers include those who support people’s lives with nursing care, commodity distribution, and other businesses and services.

The third priority is free testing in areas where COVID-19 cases are rapidly spreading, which is conducted by local governments for people without symptoms who still want reassurance that they are not infected.

The fourth, or the lowest, priority is drug stores where customers purchase the kits for personal testing. 

“We expect the testing kit shortage will become more serious in the coming few weeks,” Goto said.

Demand has risen sharply since mid-January because the test kits are being used in more ways than previously.

While the kits are being used in medical diagnosis amid the soaring virus cases, they are also used when people want to test themselves or when essential workers who were in close contact want to avoid their isolation periods or have a shorter quarantine period.

According to the health ministry, the number of people seeking medical care to treat virus-suspected fevers at 103,184 on Jan. 17, topping the level during the fifth infection wave.

Around that time, medical institutions started to run short of test kits.

It takes just 15 to 30 minutes for an antigen test to render a positive or negative result. Since they can be purchased in drug stores, this resulted in more widespread use among the public, which contributed to the supply shortage. 

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