As schools roll out rapid testing for COVID-19, different approaches emerge across regions
CBC
About a month into the fall term, many families with school-aged children are clamouring for the season's must-have: Rapid antigen tests.
Since the start of the school year, there's been an increase in the number of COVID-19 outbreaks in school and childcare settings, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada's latest weekly COVID-19 epidemiology report.
Coupled with the fact that a vaccine for children under 12 is still currently unavailable, many are calling for students to get priority in provincial deployments of rapid tests.
Rapid tests are widely seen as a useful tool to add to the protective measures being used in schools during the pandemic. However, which kids to test, how often and even where to do the testing are among the many issues that differ as different Canadian jurisdictions put rapid tests into play.
"During the pandemic, we have been pushing the government to stop reacting and to start planning ahead and be proactive," said Kate Dupuis, a Toronto mother of two young children who joined a parent group distributing rapid tests to families. "We all need to work together to do everything we can to try and keep our kids safer."
In recent weeks, Ontario has seen different efforts to get rapid tests to families, including parent-driven campaigns in Toronto and a physician-led one in Ottawa.
This week, Dr. Kieran Moore, Ontario's chief medical officer of health, announced the province's rapid-testing strategy for schools: sending them to those identified as high risk by local medical officers of health, for use by asymptomatic, unvaccinated students at home. (Those showing symptoms are still urged to get a lab-based PCR test.)
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