Feds To Spend More Than $ 1.5 Billion On Rapid COVID-19 Tests, Star Found

OTTAWA – The federal tax update contains more than $ 1.5 billion to buy rapid tests immediately, Star discovered.

The money will go to buy the tests directly and also help the provinces with the logistics of distributing them, a federal source said on condition of anonymity.

It’s one of the few new spending items to be included in Tuesday’s fiscal update, which will focus primarily on updating the books after last spring’s budget.

The goal is to respond to growing requests from provinces to make greater use of rapid tests to quickly detect the new variant of Omicron, which is highly contagious.

“As you know, the provincial and territorial demand for rapid tests is growing,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said last Friday. “Over the past year, these tests have been largely underutilized, but as of December, provinces and territories have requested around 35 million tests. This is very good news and we will make sure that the provinces and territories get these tests in time for the holidays ”.

If the demand persists into the new year, Duclos said the federal government would be there to help.

There has been widespread outrage that many of the rapid tests have been wasted in the past, remaining on the shelves even as businesses, high-risk environments, and utilities request ways to quickly detect new COVID-19 cases. .

Government data Show About 100 million rapid tests have already been purchased by the federal government, but only about two-thirds of them have been distributed, with a much smaller fraction reported as being used.

Once the federal government delivers the rapid tests to the provincial governments, it is up to them how they use and distribute them. The approach means that in some provinces, rapid tests are plentiful and available to some people for free. In others, it is nearly impossible for the general public to get their hands on a quick test for personal use.

Duclos said he did not want to blame the provinces for sitting on the tests in the past, but said there has recently been a major change in attitude among the provinces and they are now very eager to get their hands on very large amounts of the tests. .

Rapid tests give results in about 15 minutes, but they are not considered as reliable as molecular tests that are done in a laboratory. Rather, they are useful in indicating whether someone should immediately isolate themselves and seek further evidence.