The pathologists’ college has softened its stance on the use of rapid antigen tests to detect COVID-19 but warns that, even when COVID-19 case numbers are soaring, three in 100 positive results and seven in 100 negative results will still be false.

Last month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison declared that rapid antigen tests (RATs) could be used by GPs to confirm diagnoses, a stance the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia has criticised, saying PCR was “the only test that public health authorities can rely upon”.