Australians trying to get their hands on hard-to-find rapid antigen tests (RATs) may face further delays in the weeks surrounding China’s Lunar New Year.
Key points:
- Manufacturers and logistics companies in China may reduce operations during the national holiday
- Some companies have offered incentives to keep up RATs supply
- But transport to and within Australia could be an issue due to staff shortages
The Lunar New Year holiday falls on February 1, and is typically the world’s largest annual migration of people, although Beijing urged people to stay home last year and may do so again in light of Omicron outbreaks.
While some manufacturers have offered incentives to workers and promised Australian suppliers they plan to work through the holiday to meet high demand, logistics and transport could face a slowdown from late January to early February.
Of the RAT kits approved for use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), the majority are manufactured in China and mostly have a high or very high sensitivity, with some products from the United States, South Korea, Germany and Singapore.
Australia Health Products Central (AHPC), the Australian supplier for Hangzhou Testsea Biotechnology, said the manufacturer was hoping to fly in more stock this week and fulfil the orders placed by the end of the month.
AHPC managing director Xing Mao said the manufacturer had fewer staff in the lead up to Lunar New Year and would not be working at full capacity for a period of three to five days over the holiday.
“They start losing their staff already. Chinese New Year is very big. It doesn’t matter where you’re from, you go back to your home, so they will lose their interstate workers,” she said.
While she expects the first week of February to be slower, she anticipates it will bounce back to normal the following week.
“They’re trying to get as much out [as possible]. Everyone’s doing overtime as well. It’s not going to be enough, I think.”
RATs can return a result…