“This new technology will supplement our current testing efforts and give AHS the ability to provide timely testing and results to more Albertans in more communities,” said Alberta Health Services president Verna Yiu.
“This will help guide appropriate care and isolation, speed up our contact tracing and reduce the risk of further spread.”
So far, the province has tested just over 53,000 people for COVID-19, with a record number of 4,500 conducted over Tuesday-Wednesday that addressed a backlog.
On Wednesday, Premier Jason Kenney said the Spartan analyzers “will expand out capacity by thousands of tests a day so we can better plan for the health care response.”
While the demand for the units has been a boon for his company, Lem said Spartan offered them at a discount for governments, adding he and his employees are as eager for the crisis to end as anyone.
“We’re just really happy we get to help Canada, this is a really bad time and we need to get this under control and testing will be a big part of it,” he said.
Twitter: @BillKaufmannjrn
