Canadians may soon be able to get COVID-19 test results a lot more quickly.
The federal government has signed an agreement with Abbott Rapid Diagnostics for up to 7.9-million COVID-19 rapid tests.
Procurement Minister Anita Anand says the nasal swab-based test will provide results in about 15 minutes.
“These rapid tests will aid in meeting the urgent demand to test Canadians and reduce wait times for results, which is key to reducing the spread of the virus.
The agreement is pending Health Canada approval of the tests, said Anand, who noted they are also continuing to pursue other rapid test agreements.
Many questions still remain, such as when the tests might be delivered or distributed to provinces and territories.
Conservative health critic Michelle Rempel Garner said the government’s “inaction on testing is unacceptable.”
“The same rapid point-of-care test that Health Canada is now looking at has been used by our G7 allies for months, and yet, it is still not approved in Canada, even though they’re supposedly trying to order it,” she said.
“Justin Trudeau’s government’s complete inaction on testing is unacceptable. We know that testing is a key tool to get our country back to work and to fight this pandemic.”
As part of the agreement, the government is also buying up to 3,800 analyzers, which perform the test and deliver the results.
