Photo by Cory Lum/Civil Beat

Need For and Use of Rapid COVID-19 Testing In Hawaii Grows

COVID-19 tests are likely to remain part of our new normal, even as the overall pandemic situation stabilizes in Hawaii, says Civil Beat’s in a new article published on June 3rd.

Hawaii’s state epidemiologist, Dr. Sarah Kemble, reiterated to Civil Beat the importance of rapid tests in detecting and combating outbreaks that could be caused by the emergence of new virus variants.

As more people around the US and the world are vaccinated travel and tourism is on the rise once again. However, new and more infectious strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus have also been spreading in certain areas.

Dr. Patrick Sullivan from Oceanit noted, “It’s kind of a race — how fast can people get vaccinated and how fast can the virus evolve? Because of that, you need to have something (like a rapid test) that is simple, convenient, and affordable,” he said.

Visit Civil Beat to read the full article.