Hough COVID-19 Home Test With Flat Battery

A few weeks ago I purchased a Hough SARS-Cov-2 Rapid Antigen Rapid Test Kit from a supermarket in Sydney. This contained 2 tests and a UV torch. The battery for the torch is flat. Placing a new AA battery in the torch fixed the problem (the battery from the kit did not work in another torch). Note that while UV light is invisible, the torch should should emit a visible soft violet glow.

The battery supplied is branded "Malt Max" and has the date 11-2026 printed on it. While AA batteries are readily available, it could cause difficulties in remote areas, and in disaster recovery areas. I suggest it would be prudent to provide a spare AA battery and battery test instructions with the kits. The kit has a manufacturing date of 2021-11-15, Lot SA211111 Use by date 2022-11-12 and bar-code 8 60006 49853 5.

I have reported the problem to the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, as well as letting Hough Pharma, and the supermarket know.