Nthatuoa Koeshe
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giant Econet Telecom Lesotho yesterday donated 3 000 rapid diagnostic test (RDT) kits worth over M522 000 to the National Covid-19 Secretariat (NACOSEC).
The kits, which are meant to help the government step up Covid-19 tests, were handed over to NACOSEC chief executive officer (CEO) Thabo Khasipe by Econet CEO Dennis Plaatjies.
Mr Plaatjies said the testing kits were a symbol of their support to the government in the fight against Covid-19.
“It is in our power to support the government in the fight against Covid-19 and we will keep doing that,” Mr Plaatjies said.
He said the donations were from Econet’s Higher life Foundation.
An RDT test is a medical diagnostic test that is quick and easy to perform and is suitable for preliminary or emergency medical screening. A blood/serum/plasma specimen is collected from the patient and applied to the sample pad on the test card along with the reagents provided.
Results are ready in 15 minutes and the test detects the presence of antibodies which are made by the body in response to infections
The test shows results in stripes which indicate a positive, negative or recovered result even if the patient never showed any symptoms.
For his part, the Health minister Motlatsi Maqelepo expressed gratitude to Econet for helping the government in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Econet has helped us a lot in the fight against Covid-19 and we are grateful for that,” Mr Maqelepo said.
“We are still fighting Covid-19… so it is important for Basotho to take measures to protect themselves…”
Mr Khasipe said the kits would help reduce the burden of Covid-19 tests.
He said they would still do the polymerase chain reaction (PRC) testing but the RDT would mostly be used in border areas, taxi ranks and other places where it is not easy conducting PRC testing.
“PRC testing needs professionals but RDT tests can be done by anyone. The results will be available in a few minutes,” Mr Khasipe said
He said if a person’s RDT returns positive for the antibodies, then this would necessitate the use of PRC tests.
