New Seoul mayor's proposed COVID-19 'self-testing kit' stirs controversy

By Bahk Eun-ji

Newly-elected Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has been pushing the implementation of COVID-19 self-testing kits, in an effort to roll out tailored antivirus measures. However, health experts are voicing their concern mainly due to problems with accuracy when the test is conducted by non-medical professionals.

In an online briefing, Monday, Oh said that the fundamental solution to easing the economic difficulties suffered by small business owners who have been ordered to limit their operating hours or shut down temporarily, is to let them operate longer hours and return to business as usual

To do so, Oh urged the central government to actively consider introducing over-the-counter self-testing kits, which have been developed overseas and adopted in some countries.

“If business owners are allowed to provide the kits to customers (to check if they are infected), the government can ease regulations by extending the operating hours of entertainment establishments ― which are currently limited to operating only until 10 p.m. ― to midnight.”

The self-testing kits can check the test results within 10 to 30 minutes and are already being used in the United States, United Kingdom, and Germany.

However, there are significant concerns among experts over the effectiveness of the self-testing kits.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has not granted permission for any self-testing kit until now due to controversy over the inaccuracy of test results.

In addition, people who are infected but asymptomatic may show negative test results due to low virus levels. The recent increase in infects by COVID-19 variants is also pointed out as a weakness of the self-testing kits, as it is unknown if self-testing kits can detect the variants.

Last year, the self-testing kits caused controversy when the White House used them showing the results in five minutes, but it was revealed later that the inaccuracy rate reached 48 percent.

Experts worry that if people show negative test results due to the inaccuracy of the kits, and keep coming into contact with others, they could end up spreading the virus, while missing the best time for treatment.

“The most concerning fact is that the accuracy level is too low. There's still a long way to go before they can replace conventional diagnostic tests,” said Chung Jae-hoon, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University.

Peck Kyong-ran, the chairperson of the Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, wrote on her Facebook page that about half of the patients using the self-testing kits can test negative falsely.

“Because of the self-testing kits' lower sensitivity, false negatives increase,” she wrote. “If there is no measure on how to deal with false-negative and false-positive cases, it will only cause confusion among medical workers in the field.”

Health Minister Kwon Deok-chul also said in a radio interview that the key issue is accuracy. “If a person is infected, but tests negative through self-testing, the person will keep meeting people, talking and drinking with others with masks off, and then spread the virus,” he said. “The kits can be supplementary, but we need to collect more opinions from experts.”