Rapid tests ‘underused’ tool in B.C., expert says

While schools are set to receive shipments of rapid antigen tests for teachers and staff, some experts note the province has lagged in its use of RATs as part of its pandemic response as a whole.

Many have called on the B.C. government to make rapid tests more widely available amid the spread of Omicron.

Dr. Brian Conway with the Vancouver Infectious Diseases Centre is among them, saying “there’s nowhere near enough access” in B.C. as in other jurisdictions.

“I think we in British Columbia, respectfully, have made a decision that rapid tests wouldn’t be a key part of our response to COVID, except in specific settings such as long-term care facilities, more recently in schools, perhaps in some other businesses. We have chosen to target the use of rapid tests in very specific ways,” he explained.

He says in other parts of Canada, rapid tests are much more available and widely used. Conway believes more discussion around the best use of rapid tests needs to take place, so all experts can try to get on the same page.

“I think there are many applications to me that make so much sense, especially their use as a red light, their use to try to help keep people at work,” he told CityNews. “It’s an underused tool to my mind in British Columbia.”

RATs have been a topic of some contention in B.C. over the past several weeks. In December, many had called on the province to distribute the tests to the public over the holiday season, as some other provinces had done after receiving shipments from the federal government.

Then, amid a spike in demand for PCR testing due to the Omicron wave, rapid tests were deployed at testing facilities, to be used by people who were not deemed to be in high-risk groups.

Despite his belief that RATs are underused in B.C., Conway cautions there can be complacency when there is easy access to rapid tests. He notes use of RATs needs to be “optimized in settings where public health guidelines are consistent with the stage at which the pandemic happens to be in a country, in a province, in a city.”

“If you deploy rapid tests very broadly but do not have in place the public health regulations that are needed to limit community spread, it’s very unfair to say that the rapid tests didn’t work when in fact it is that they weren’t part of an optimized overall strategy,” Conway explained.

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Despite this warning, he says he would like to see more of these tests.

The doctor admits there is always a “grey zone” — such as when you or your child have a runny nose and feel ill, but test negative on a rapid test. When in doubt, he says people should opt to isolate and be careful, assuming the illness could be COVID-19.

Earlier this month, B.C. said it was expecting an additional 600,000 rapid tests from the federal government. A portion of those tests — 200,000 — are being shipped to schools in the province. 

Meanwhile, B.C. Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry and Health Minister Adrian Dix are set to hold a rare Friday morning COVID-19 update.

The availability comes after B.C. reported 15 new deaths related to the virus on Thursday.

-With files from Liza Yuzda