EACH Western Australian household is eligible for five free individual rapid antigen tests.
On Sunday, Premier Mark McGowan said households would be able to register online and have the tests delivered to their home address.
People who cannot register online can contact 13 COVID (13 26843) for assistance in placing their order.
To register, people are required to provide their name, contact number, email and home address.
Once registered, people will receive confirmation with a unique order number which is required if they elect to collect their free RATs from a designated collection point in the metropolitan area.
Collection for registered orders is the Perth Airport collection point.
People should allow for up to 15 business days for delivery from when they receive confirmation, with regional areas being prioritised initially.
Mr McGowan said having access to free RATs would help keep the community safe.
“Having the flexibility to take a RAT at home gives people the added convenience of not having to leave their home – especially when we hit very high testing numbers and caseloads,’’ he said.
“The distribution of free RATs aligns with when Western Australia is set to record significantly higher case numbers, providing access to tests when Western Australians will need these the most.’’
Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said making RATs freely available through the program was a significant step in preparing Western Australians for the next stage of Covid-19.
“Providing quick, accurate results to community members while minimising movement and potential spread of Covid-19 is a convenient option for Western Australians, and this program helps to enable this,’’ she said.
“Anyone who returns a positive RAT must register their result with the Department of Health, isolate immediately and follow the relevant positive case guidance.
“We expect there to be a high demand at the collection site in the first few days due to the large number of RATs being distributed, so I encourage people to plan accordingly.”
On Thursday, March 3 Opposition Regional Health spokesman Martin Aldridge said five free RATs was insufficient for regional households when you considered that alternative access to testing was not easily available in most communities.
“An average family could easily use up their entire testing capacity in just a single day,” he said.
“Without access to testing, children may be unable to return to school and critical workers could be forced into isolation for up to seven days.
“While the government has not ruled out providing further RAT tests, the slow rollout to get these tests into the regions places patients and communities at risk.
“The free RAT program will use approximately 5 per cent of the total RATs WA has available, showing there is significant capacity to increase supply to regional WA.”
The government said RATs were recognised as an accurate diagnostic tool for Covid-19, supporting the PCR test method which remained available across the state and would continue to play an important role in WA’s Covid-19 management as cases continued to rise.
Additional RATs are also supplied to testing clinics to supplement the PCR system and free RATs are also available for pick up at pharmacies for eligible concession card holders.
In addition to households, the state government will provide RATs to the community service sector and schools and childcare providers, to ensure they have supplies when the critical worker furloughing policy is in action.
It is mandatory for people who return a positive RAT to register their result online with the Department of Health. Those who do not have access to the online registration system must still report their positive test result by contacting 13 COVID (13 26843).
More information about the WA free RAT program, managing Covid and isolation protocols can be viewed at https://www.wa.gov.au
