The pathologists’ college has softened its stance on the use of rapid antigen tests to detect COVID-19 but warns that, even when COVID-19 case numbers are soaring, three in 100 positive results and seven in 100 negative results will still be false.

Last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared that rapid antigen tests (RATs) could be used by GPs to confirm diagnoses, a stance the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has criticised, saying PCR was “the only test that public health authorities can rely upon”.

But in a new position statement, the college said that with PCR testing capacity still under the cosh, swabs should be indicated for “certain high-risk or sentinel populations”, such as pregnant women with a positive RAT result or index cases in aged care (see box below).

This was important amid the rollout of new antiviral COVID-19 treatments so clinicians could avoid unnecessary treatment and adverse reactions, particularly in the absence of data when treatments were administered to those who were not infected.