Coronavirus: audit office praises state’s procurement of rapid tests

The audit office has researched the government’s procurement of rapid tests and said it generally did a good job, considering the urgency of the situation.

A total of 3,491,000 rapid tests were procured in various tenders for a total cost of €9,182,590 as of April 13, noting that the price per test has decreased over the course of the pandemic, due to procedures as well as technological advancements of the companies themselves.

Of the 12 procurement programmes that the audit office studied, it noted that overall the process was satisfactory but perhaps could have been handled better to further reduce costs.

According to its report, from October 2020 up until February 2021 the price per tests fell by about 60 per cent – from €5 at the upper limit to €1.97 at the lower tier.

It did note, however, that its review was more lenient as it took into consideration the exceptional circumstances of the pandemic.