TEST SHORTAGE TO LAST WEEKS, SAYS COLES
COLES chief executive Steven Cain says the supermarket giant is delivering millions of rapid antigen tests to its stores each week, but it is not enough to satisfy demand.
Mr Cain said it would take weeks before Coles was able to stock enough rapid antigen tests (RATs) to levels sufficient to supply every customer who wanted one.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims has set up a team to investigate RAT pricing after receiving scores of complaints amid a chronic shortage of the kits that can detect the coronavirus within 20 minutes.
Mr Cain said Coles was no longer selling RATs online, with the kits only available for sale in stores.
“Customer demand for rapid antigen tests has skyrocketed over the past two weeks,” he said.
“We’re delivering millions of tests each week to our stores and we’ve ordered more from our suppliers.”
Health regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration approved the sale of over-the-counter RATs late last year, despite manufacturers telling the federal government early in the pandemic about the benefits of rapid testing.
For Brisbane-based manufacturer Ellume, the slow uptake of RATs in Australia has been a source of frustration.
The company is shipping more than 700,000 of its kits to the US each week after the US Government pounced on Ellume’s technology, granting it $US30m to fast-track production. Ellume is now focused on the US market despite Australia facing shortages.
Food distributors have been calling on the government to make RATs more available as pandemic rules force scores of warehouse workers and truck drivers into isolation, delaying deliveries.
Mr Cain said the rise in Covid-19 cases meant there were fewer people available to work, leading to widespread grocery shortages.
To accelerate the recovery, Mr Cain said Coles was hiring more workers: “We are hiring additional team members across all parts of our business, and we are fast-tracking the process to get them where they are needed”.