The RCPA is once again reminding the community to be tested for COVID-19. This follows new market research* by the College, which reveals that 45% of Australians and 64% of Kiwis chose not to get tested, despite experiencing cold and flu like symptoms within the past six months. Dr Michael Dray, President of the RCPA explains why this is concerning.

“With the highly contagious Delta variant circulating in our communities, the number of individuals saying they are not being tested when experiencing a cold is concerning. In order to successfully get on top of the current outbreaks and continue to enjoy the travel bubble, we strongly advise anyone to be tested if they have cold and flu like symptoms, or if they have attended any of the venues of concern. Until the community is fully vaccinated, high levels of testing remains the best way to manage COVID-19, allowing public health officials to contact trace effectively. While testing levels in Australia and New Zealand increase at times of outbreaks, it is essential that the community remains vigilant and continues to follow the public health advice.”

The new market research also showed that ninety three percent of Australians and 87% of Kiwi’s are proud of their country’s ability to provide high levels of testing for COVID-19. Ninety three percent of Aussies also say they believe pathology plays a vital role within the Australian medical profession, with 95% of Kiwi’s saying the same of New Zealand. Eighty four percent of Australians and 83% of Kiwis said they did not think that it would be possible to manage COVID-19 in their country without pathologists.

“The important role of our pathology services has been made even more apparent during the COVID-19 crisis. The only way to manage an infectious outbreak is to identify the cases, quarantine them and then contact trace which we have continued to do throughout this pandemic. We are now at a pivotal point in this pandemic and it is important we aim to reach a minimum number of COVID-19 tests each day so we can be confident the virus is not circulating in the community.

“Our research shows that 73% of Australians say they consider Australia to be a world leader in terms of pathology testing which is absolutely the case. In recent years, pathology services in Australia and New Zealand have undergone a revolutionary change in the quality of the services provided through advances in genomics and other new scientific technologies. With any new advances it is vital to ensure they are implemented in a safe, effective and quality manner. Central to this is the NATA/RCPA Medical Testing (or International Accreditation New Zealand (IANZ) in New Zealand) accreditation process and the associated Quality Assurance Programs (QAP). This has elevated Australian and New Zealand pathology services to be widely regarded as the world leader in this space. Rapid implementation of innovations, high quality testing and fast turnaround times have all been very important to this process,” said Dr Dray.

The RCPA’s Quality Assurance Program (RCPAQAP) was one of the first in the world to develop a proficiency testing program (PTP) for SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. This PTP allowed laboratories to quality assure their testing, therefore ensuring accurate results. Since then, several different COVID-19 related PTPs have been developed to cater for different laboratories and testing platforms. Not only did RCPAQAP provide quality assurance for COVID-19 testing in Australia and New Zealand, but also in 113 countries worldwide as part of a contract negotiated with the World Health Organisation (WHO).