TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Health Minister Chen Shih-cheng (陳時中) said Tuesday (April 12) that rapid-antigen tests cannot be made free outside high-risk counties and cities, citing the country’s experience with mask distribution.

Chen acknowledged the current market price is unreasonably high as demand for the tests has surged recently. He said once a higher volume is available, he expects the cost of rapid-antigen test kits will drop to under NT$200 (US$6.90) a piece, per a UDN report.

Rapid-antigen tests have become an important tool for tracking the recent wave of COVID cases, Chen said. An action plan will be drawn up for high-risk counties and cities, and batches of 200,000 rapid-antigen tests will be made freely available to residents of such areas, he added.

Chen said the Ministry of Health and Welfare has stocked about 1 million test kits, not including those that have already been distributed among local government agencies. He said medical suppliers should be able to produce around 5 million kits a month and called on the industry to work around the clock to increase its output.

Liu Hui-chi (劉慧啟), general manager of Formosa Biomedical (台塑生醫), said reducing the price of kits to under NT$200 is feasible but must be done via mass production, lower transportation costs, and zero inventory costs. To alleviate the cost of transportation and lower the market price, Liu recommended the government assist in distributing the test kits as it did earlier with face masks.