 The new affordable, reliable, antigen diagnostic tests recently approved by the World Health Organization that can be performed anywhere are set to transform the region's COVID-19 response by allowing health workers to carry out accurate, rapid testing even in remote communities. The Pan-American Health Organization director Carissa Etienne has said, unlike previous rapid antibody tests which can show when somebody has had COVID-19 but often give a negative result during the early stages of infection, the new rapid antigen tests are much more accurate in determining if someone is currently infected. Thanks to the tireless work of the WHO's ACT Accelerator, we now have an affordable and reliable diagnostic test that can be performed anywhere. By providing results quickly, the new test empowers frontline health workers to better manage cases by isolating patients to prevent further spread and to begin treatment immediately. And it gives healthcare workers whether they are working in a hospital in Buenos Aires or a mobile health clinic in the Amazon, it gives them the power to test and diagnose cases within minutes, not days, at one third of the cost of the traditional PCR tests that we have been using. This new diagnostics will allow us to test more people faster and more accurately than ever before, particularly in remote communities without easy access to a laboratory which have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. If distributed widely, this new test will transform our COVID response. Today, PAHO has in its possession hundreds of thousands of visits and we have those available via the PAHO Strategic Supply Fund with millions more expected in the coming weeks. So we have built up a stockpile and we are able also to access those tests for our member states. Dr. Etienne says accurate testing allows for the better management of patients and preventing the virus from infecting others. At the community level, it also allows for health officials to track changes in the virus's spread and adjust the national response.