Alberta doctor, NDP call on province to make rapid COVID tests available for free

An Alberta doctor is calling on the province to make rapid antigen tests to detect COVID-19 readily available to keep any potential holiday surge in cases to a minimum.

Dr. Raj Bhardwaj, a family physician and urgent care doctor, told CBC's The Current that he thinks rapid tests are a valuable tool that is being left on the shelf. 

He says the tests, which have been supplied by the federal government to provinces, should be available to households at no cost, especially as concern over the new omicron variant grows. 

"It's baffling and I haven't heard any infectious disease specialist, any intensive care specialist, any emergency doc, any family doc, any public health specialist come out and say 'here's why we won't do it,'" he said. 

He said the lack of accessibility is "frustrating," especially as the tests are already on-hand. 

Bhardwaj says the tests can be bought online for about $15 per test in a box of 25, and some Alberta pharmacies are distributing them to businesses, but that's not enough. 

Along with wide-spread distribution of the tests, Bhardwaj says people should be educated about how and when to use them, and told what a negative test means and how a positive test should be followed by a lab-based PCR test. 

Alberta Health Minister Jason Copping says they are discussing what to do with the tests the province currently has, but added that rapid tests need to be used in tandem with other health measures and they are known to produce a higher percentage of false negative results.

The tests are often conducted outside of a laboratory environment and not performed by a trained professional. The federal government says the tests are most effective at identifying cases with high viral load and high transmission potential. 

"As you may be aware we have already distributed seven million tests through Alberta Health to use as a screening tool. It's important that it can be used in the right context," Copping said. 

But Copping added that Albertans should "stay tuned" for an announcement about distribution in the near future.

Alberta's NDP say the tests should be distributed to school-aged children, and are calling for the government to send five COVID-19 rapid tests home with each kid this holiday season. 

"In a few weeks' time, students will be returning to classrooms and widespread rapid testing will help ensure that we're not bringing COVID back into schools after the holidays," said Sarah Hoffman, NDP critic for education, in a statement. 

Alberta has 733,599 students, so arming them all with five rapid tests would equate to 3,667,995 tests. The provincial supply currently houses 5,628,233 rapid tests, the NDP said.