Horizon Health issued an apology Wednesday for the lack of rapid tests in Greater Saint John.
It was supposed to be the first day tests were available again following a four-day break for the Christmas holiday.
Jean Daigle, vice-president of community for Horizon, said the Saint John site did not receive its anticipated delivery until “well after the site was scheduled to open.”
“Given this unexpected situation, the decision was made to close the site for the day and reopen on Thursday, Dec. 30 at 1 p.m. using the stock that arrived from this late delivery,” Daigle said in a statement.
“This situation also meant that we were regrettably unable to offer our mobile pickup location in Grand Bay-Westfield on Wednesday.”
Daigle said they are working with their partners in government to address these issues and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.
“We are also working with our on-site teams to help ensure that anyone waiting in line to receive a kit can be notified when supplies are running low in order to reduce the number of people waiting unnecessarily,” Daigle said.
Horizon confirmed the number of rapid test kits being supplied to their hub and mobile pickup locations “is insufficient to meet the current public demand”.
Alexandra Davis, a spokesperson for the Department of Health, said the holiday season has caused a slow down in the delivery of rapid tests to New Brunswick.
“But we continue to distribute kits each day until the distribution centre’s daily allotment has run out. This will continue into the new year when deliveries return to normal,” Davis said in an email Thursday morning.
Daily limits have been placed on each distribution site to ensure enough inventory for scheduled distribution, said Davis.
“If people have multiple test kits at home, we would ask that they wait and use their kits before replenishing their supply, or reach out to family or neighbours who may be looking for tests and share their supply with them,” said Davis.
The lack of rapid tests comes as health officials deal with a backlog of nearly 2,500 requests for PCR testing in the Saint John health region.
All priority groups, which include Public Health referrals, health-care workers and those who work or live in vulnerable settings, are being scheduled within 48 hours.
The next priorities — any symptomatic individuals as well as those who test positive on a rapid test — are being booked for a test within 120 hours.
The Saint John zone reported 216 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and now has 1,014 active cases, accounting for nearly 43 per cent of all active cases in the province.
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