With COVID-19 cases spiking across the country, and people preparing for indoor holiday celebrations, provincial governments are facing mounting pressure to make rapid tests more widely available.
Health Canada data shows the federal government has sent nearly 80-million rapid antigen tests to the provinces and territories, but just over 14.7 million were used as of Nov. 26.
Medical experts across the country have been calling on health officials to make the tests more accessible by making them free of charge, and more easily found at places like grocery checkouts — even gas stations.
2:43 Calls to release at-home COVID-19 rapid tests widely in Ontario
Calls to release at-home COVID-19 rapid tests widely in Ontario
Canada’s rapid testing strategy has generally focused on long-term care homes, schools, and workplaces. Some provinces have limited the general public and people who are asymptomatic from accessing the tests.
With infection rates heading in the wrong direction in most jurisdictions, experts say expanding rapid testing is “critical.”
“We’re underutilizing these tests in Canadian settings from coast to coast,” said infectious disease specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch. “Is [testing] going to solve all our problems? No, of course not. But it helps. It’s just a major step forward.”
The Health Canada data shows that while the federal government has purchased more than 94.6 million rapid tests, just under 15 million have used, or roughly 16 per cent.
The antigen tests that typically use a shallow nasal swab are less reliable than the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test but can offer results in less than 15 minutes. They can be used right before a family gathering or large public events to help control transmission.
“Rapid tests are a really good public health tool to reduce transmission of COVID 19 to keep society open,” said Dr. Amit Arya, a palliative care physician who works in the Greater Toronto Area. “This is something that we should be providing, ideally, to every household.”
Dr. Arya said rapid testing adds another important layer of defence in the fight against COVID-19, along with measures like vaccination, ventilation and masking.
“Many of us will be getting together with our loved ones during the holidays and can still be asymptomatic and transmit COVID 19,” he said, “Rapid antigen tests put the power in your hands, where you can test yourself at home before leaving for any of these settings.”
Part of the problem with Canada’s rapid testing strategy, experts and critics say, is that access to the tests differs widely depending on where you live in Canada. The tests can also be expensive, costing $40 in Ontario, a barrier for low-income families, according to Dr. Arya.
B.C. and Ontario, for example, have prioritized certain locations like businesses, essential workplaces, hospitals, and long-term care homes for rapid testing. Rapid tests can also be accessed at some pharmacies in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
In Quebec and Alberta, families with kids in elementary school can get rapid tests in the event of an outbreak or a child showing COVID-19 symptoms.
Other provinces like Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Saskatchewan, and P.E.I have made the tests more widely available at testing sites, town offices, libraries, or to households with kids who are too young to be vaccinated.
Bogoch said it’s not just about access. Governments have to do a better job of communicating how to use the tests and integrate them into routine settings.
“If we had fewer barriers and greater accessibility, I think we would put them to good use,” he said. “It would be an important piece of a much larger puzzle to keep this pandemic under control in Canada.”
Experts said Canada should be following the lead of other countries such as Germany or the U.K. where tests are ubiquitous, cheap, in some cases free, and have become part of everyday life to help identify potentially infectious people before they can join crowds at a concert or dine-in at restaurants.
Rapid antigen testing was first approved just over a year ago in Canada but uptake has been slow. Petitions have sprung up in B.C. and Ontario calling for rapid tests to be placed in as many hands as possible.
An Ontario doctor has taken the step of creating a Twitter account to help people find rapid tests, similar to the widely successful Twitter accounts set up by vaccine hunters who helped people find vaccine appointments.
Dr. Dalia Hasan, who started the ‘COVID Test Finders’ account about three months ago, is among the voices calling on health officials to #FreeTheRATs, an acronym for rapid antigen tests.
“We’re currently woefully underutilizing testing,” said Dr. Hasan. “Not taking advantage of this critical public health tool is quite frankly an unforced error.”
Ontario Premier Doug Ford pushed back against criticism of his government’s rollout of rapid testing, saying that Ontario has handed out more rapid tests than all other provinces combined. Federal data shows that Ontario has distributed over 33 million tests, with a roughly 30 per cent usage rate — among the highest in Canada.
“We’re putting pop-up locations in malls and shopping centres and transit locations and workplaces to make sure it’s convenient to get tested,” Ford said during Thursday’s Question Period.
Ford also reiterated a promise to provide another 11 million rapid tests for schools — enough to send home five with every student before the holidays.
Meanwhile, Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos told reporters on Wednesday that provinces and territories should get ready to deploy more of the tests.
“We are very soon going to deliver to provinces and territories a very large amount of rapid tests, much larger than what we’ve seen over the last few months,” he said. “The demand from provinces and territories has been substantially increased over the last weeks and we hope to announce some very good news on that very soon.”
Asked Thursday about whether the tests should be free, Duclos said it’s up to his provincial counterparts to make that decision.
“Obviously we can’t decide what provinces will do with those tests, but the federal government is sending those tests for free,” he said.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — The San Francisco 49ers placed All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey on injured reserve because of his lingering calf and Achilles tendon injuries.
The move made Saturday means McCaffrey will miss at least four more games after already sitting out the season opener. He is eligible to return for a Thursday night game in Seattle on Oct. 10.
McCaffrey got hurt early in training camp and missed four weeks of practice before returning to the field on a limited basis last week. He was a late scratch for the opener on Monday night against the Jets and now is sidelined again after experiencing pain following practice on Thursday.
McCaffrey led the NFL last season with 2,023 yards from scrimmage and was tied for the league lead with 21 touchdowns, winning AP Offensive Player of the Year.
The Niners made up for McCaffrey’s absence thanks to a strong performance from backup Jordan Mason, who had 28 carries for 147 yards and a touchdown in San Francisco’s 32-19 victory over the New York Jets. Mason is set to start again Sunday at Minnesota.
After missing 23 games because of injuries in his final two full seasons with Carolina, McCaffrey had been healthy the past two seasons.
He missed only one game combined in 2022-23 — a meaningless Week 18 game last season for San Francisco when he had a sore calf. His 798 combined touches from scrimmage in the regular season and playoffs were the third most for any player in a two-year span in the past 10 years.
Now San Francisco will likely rely heavily on Mason, a former undrafted free agent out of Georgia Tech who had 83 carries his first two seasons. He had at least 10 touches just twice before the season opener, when his 28 carries were the most by a 49ers player in a regular-season game since Frank Gore had 31 against Seattle on Oct. 30, 2011.
The Niners also have fourth-round rookie Isaac Guerendo and Patrick Taylor Jr. on the active roster. Guerendo played three offensive snaps with no touches in the opener. Taylor had 65 carries for Green Bay from 2021-23.
San Francisco also elevated safety Tracy Walker III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against Minnesota.
BRUSSELS – Canada walked away with some hardware at the Diamond League track and field competition Saturday.
Alysha Newman finished third in women’s pole vault, while Marco Arop did the same in the men’s 800-metre race.
Newman won a bronze medal in her event at the recent Paris Olympics. Arop grabbed silver at the same distance in France last month.
Australia’s Nina Kennedy, who captured gold at the Summer Games, again finished atop the podium. Sandi Morris of the United States was second.
Newman set a national record when she secured Canada’s first-ever pole vault medal with a bronze at the Olympics with a height of 4.85 metres. The 30-year-old from London, Ont., cleared 4.80 metres in her second attempt Saturday, but was unable conquer 4.88 metres on three attempts.
Arop, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, finished the men’s 800 metres with a time of one minute 43.25 seconds. Olympic gold medallist Emmanuel Wanyonyi of Kenya was first with a time of 1:42.70.
Djamel Sedjati, edged out by Arop for silver in Paris last month, was second 1:42.87
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 14, 2024.
MILAN (AP) — Bologna’s preparations for its Champions League debut are not going well though it managed to spoil Como’s first Serie A home match in 21 years on Saturday.
Bologna came from two goals down to salvage a 2-2 draw to gather three points from its opening four matches.
Bologna hosts Shakhtar Donetsk on Wednesday. Its only other appearance in Europe’s top competition was in 1964 in the preliminary round of the old European Cup.
AC Milan is also winless as it prepares for a Tuesday Champions League match against Liverpool. The Rossoneri hosted promoted Venezia later. Juventus drew at Empoli 0-0.
Como made a great start in the fifth minute when Patrick Cutrone attempted to roll the ball across the six-yard box but it took a huge deflection off Bologna defender Nicolò Casale for an own goal.
Bologna thought it was gifted a way back into the match on the stroke of halftime when referee Marco Piccinini signalled for a penalty following an Alberto Moreno handball, but he revoked his decision and instead gave a free kick because the handball was just outside the area.
Bologna improved after the break but found itself further behind when Cutrone raced onto a through ball and cut inside past a defender and fired into the far bottom corner.
Tommaso Pobega hit the post for Bologna, which finally pulled one back in the 76th through substitute Santiago Castro.
Another substitute helped the visitors snatch a point when Samuel Iling-Junior curled a fine strike into the top left corner in stoppage time.
Unbeaten sides
Juventus, and more surprisingly Empoli, are among six unbeaten sides.
Empoli held Monza and Bologna to draws either side of a shock 2-1 win at Roma. Juventus’ perfect start to the season was ruined by Roma in a goalless draw before the international break.
On Saturday, there were few clearcut chances in Empoli although home goalkeeper Devis Vásquez made spectacular saves to fingertip out a Federico Gatti header and deny Dusan Vlahovic in a one on one with the Juventus forward.
Empoli had a good opportunity in the 73rd minute following an Alberto Grassi one-two with Pietro Pellegri but the finish was straight at Mattia Perin.
The host could have won it right at the death but Gatti flew in with a great sliding block to keep out Emanuel Gyasi’s close-range effort.
Juventus hosts PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League on Tuesday.
