Covid-19 Home Test Kits now available in the 4 big convenience stores. Here are the prices, the availability and instructions of the 5 brands of rapid test kits.

Covid-19 Home Test Kits now available in the 4 big convenience stores. Here are the prices, the availability and instructions of the 5 brands of home test kits.

Covid-19 has spread to local communities and to strengthen the Covid-19 testing capacity, the Food and Drug Administration (衛生福利部食品藥物管理署) quickly approved 5 brands of Covid home test kits, one local and 4 imported brands that the people can freely choose from. Starting June 23, these Covid test kits will be available in the 4 big convenience stores in Taiwan. Available packaging is from 1 to 20 units, and the lowest price is around NT$350. The rapid test can be done at home in just 3 steps.

The 5 home rapid test kits being sold in convenience stores are divided into nucleic acid rapid test and antigen rapid test, including the locally produced "Forvitron FORA/VTRUST Covid-19 Antigen Self-Test Kits" and South Korean made "Roche SARS-CoV-2 Home Antigen Self-test kits”, American-made ``InteliSwab COVID-19 Rapid Test'', American-made ``Lucira Check-It Covid-19 Test Kits'' and American-made ``Lucira Home Covid-19 Nucleic Acid Reagent Test Set'' .

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The 4 big convenience stores start selling Covid-19 home test kits. Photo/Retrieved from Food Next.

• Major convenience stores and drug stores start selling rapid test kits

1. 7-11(統一超商)

Starting on June 23, home Covid-19 rapid tests will be sold in shops with pharmacist’s license in north of Taoyuan. The rapid tests for sale are Taidoc Technology’s Forvitron FORA/VTRUST Home COVID19 Antigen Rapid Test Kit which sells for NT$350 for a single unit. It will be sold in licensed drug stores all over Taiwan from July 1 onwards.

2. Family Mart (全家便利商店)

From June 26th, the Korean made " Roche SARS-CoV-2 Home Antigen Self-test kits and the locally made " Forvitron FORA/VTRUST COVID19 Antigen Self Test Kit” will be available in Family Mart stores. Roche will be sold for NT$1,800 per pack of 5 units and can be bought directly at the Family Mart store. Forvitron is NT$5,880 per pack of 20 units, which is suitable for company bulk purchase and can be purchased at Family Mart using the FamiPort machine kiosk for pre-order and payment. The order will be available for pick up at the store the next day, at the earliest.

3. Hi-Life (萊爾富便利商店)

Starting from June 23, Covid-19 home rapid test kits will be available at the Hi-Life Dihua branch in Taipei City and the Wugong branch in Wugu, New Taipei City. The product is the locally made " Forvitron FORA/VTRUST COVID19 Antigen Self Test Kit” of Taidoc Technology. Each branch will have a limited supply of 100 boxes of 5 units each. The price is NT$1,700 per box and will not be sold as individual units and will be sold until supplies last.  

4. OK Mart (OK超商)

Starting from June 24, members can pre-order the Korean made "Roche SARS-CoV-2 Home Antigen Self-test kits”. One box has 5 units selling for NT$1,799 using the member ordering system available at OK Mart branches all over Taiwan. The orders will be available for pick up from July 9 onwards.

5. Cosmed (康是美)

Starting from June 24, Cosmed branches in Taipei City, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan, will start selling the locally made " Forvitron FORA/VTRUST COVID19 Antigen Self Test Kit” at NT$1,700 per box of 5 units. From June 26, Cosmed branches all over Taiwan will start selling the South Korean made "Roche SARS-CoV-2 Home Antigen Self-test kits” at NT$1,900 per box of 5 units.

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If the test result is positive, people are asked to do a "PCR" test. Picture/Retrieved from Facebook

3 Simple steps to complete the rapid test:

1. For accuracy, Empty the nasal cavity before use and then take out the test rod
2. Insert the test rod into the nasal cavity to a depth of 2 to 2.5 cm, and go around the left and right nostrils 5 times for 15 seconds each.

      3.Then place the test rod into the test tube and stir, and then drip it into the test pan.              Wait for more than 15 minutes for the result. One line is negative and two lines are            positive.  

If the result of the home rapid test is negative, self-health monitoring should be done and epidemic prevention measures should be followed. If the test result is positive, one should take precautionary measures and take a "rapid PCR" test at the community testing center. For those who tested negative, they should monitor themselves and still follow epidemic prevention measures. If the PCR test is positive but with no serious symptoms, one should go to a designated quarantine hotel or to the centralized quarantine station. If the PCR test is positive and there are serious symptoms, one should make special arrangements to seek medical treatment at the hospital.