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Coronavirus: Hong Kong Consumer Council rolls out search tool to check if rapid antigen test kits have been approved by authorities

  • Council received 48 complaints about home-testing kits between January 14 and March 8
  • Search tool to allow consumers to see which brands have been approved by local authorities, mainland China, the European Commission or the United States

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Hong Kong Consumer Council has launched a  search tool for checking if rapid antigen test kits have been approved by authorities. Photo: Shutterstock
Hong Kong’s consumer watchdog has rolled out a search tool to allow residents to check whether brands behind Covid-19 rapid antigen test (RAT) kits have been approved by local authorities, mainland China, the European Commission or the United States.
Hongkongers have rushed to panic buy everyday goods and necessities including rapid test kits amid a worsening fifth wave of the pandemic and news of a possible lockdown as part of mass screening.

Whether a rapid test yields “one line” or “two lines” has become the talk of the town, as residents constantly worry about getting a positive test result.

But the Consumer Council received a total of 48 complaints about RAT kits between January 14 and March 8, of which 19 were related to late or non-delivery of goods, 13 to certification issues, while the rest concerned sale practices, expiry dates and spurious goods.

Council chief executive Gilly Wong Fung-han said the prices of the kits mentioned in the complaints varied from HK$18 (US$2) to HK$120, with 37 cases involving purchases made online and 11 bought in-person.

Gilly Wong, chief executive of Hong Kong’s Consumer Council. Photo: Nora Tam
Gilly Wong, chief executive of Hong Kong’s Consumer Council. Photo: Nora Tam

“An abundance of RAT brands from different places are available on the market and online,” she said. “People may wonder which ones have international accreditation and are more accurate, with a lower chance of getting a ‘false negative’ or ‘false positive’.

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