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COVID-19 antigen rapid test (ART) kits for self-testing will be "sold by pharmacists" to the public from Jun 16, said the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Thursday (Jun 10). These self-test kits have received interim authorisation from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to be sold to the general public. The kits are: Abbott PanBio COVID-19 Antigen Self-test, QuickVue At-Home OTC COVID-19 Test, SD Biosensor SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Self-Test Nasal, and SD Biosensor Standard Q COVID-19 Ag Home Test. These tests produce results in less than 20 minutes, said the Health Ministry. "They are simple to use, they can be self administered. From next week, Jun 16, these kits will be dispensed by pharmacists at selected retail pharmacies. We will then open up for counter sales at more retail locations progressively," said Health Minister Ong Ye Kung at a multi-ministry task force press conference. Sales will initially be limited to 10 ART kits per person to ensure that there are "adequate supplies for all”, said the Health Ministry's director of medical services Kenneth Mak. But as more supplies are made available for retail sales, authorities will "eventually allow test kits to be freely purchased", he said. Prof Mak said: "The ART self-test kits complement our overall surveillance strategy. "These fast and easy-to-use tests allow us to detect infected cases more quickly, in particular among individuals who do not have acute respiratory infection symptoms, but are concerned that they may have been exposed to Covid-19." This might be for people who had been to a place that a confirmed case had visited, for instance. The four self-test kits that have been granted interim authorisation by the Health Sciences Authority (HSA) for sale to the public are the Abbott PanBio Covid-19 Antigen Self-Test, the Quidel QuickVue At-Home OTC Covid-19 Test, the SD Biosensor Sars-CoV-2 Antigen Self-Test Nasal, and the SD Biosensor Standard Q Covid-19 Ag Home Test. In response to media queries, Watsons Singapore said it will be retailing the Abbott and Quidel QuickVue test kits at all pharmacy stores in phase one of the test kit roll-out. "We would be keeping with MOH’s recommended guidelines on retail selling price, which will range from approximately $10 to $13 per test kit," it said. MOH said: "Individuals who have a positive result for their ART self-test should immediately approach a Swab And Send Home public health preparedness clinic for a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. "They are then required to self-isolate until they receive a negative PCR test result." Meanwhile, those who test negative on their self-test ART should still stay vigilant and adhere to prevailing safe management measures, MOH said.