COVID-19 rapid tests going to more businesses

Ottawa has introduced new ways for small and medium businesses to get access to rapid COVID-19 tests to stop workplace spread, and Alberta has announced a deal with neighbouring Montana for truckers to get vaccinated south of the border.

Tests that screen for the virus in as little as 15 minutes can be ordered from 40 Shopper’s Drug Mart locations in Ontario hot spots. The Canadian Chamber of Commerce’s network is also helping to distribute kits to enterprises across the country.

Tests can also be ordered directly through a new federal online portal.

“More screening and testing means safer workplaces and less community transmission,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday in Ottawa. “That will help us reopen our economy faster.”

The federal government has nearly 42 million rapid tests. Of those, 26.7 million have been sent directly to provinces and territories, but have in many cases been slow to roll out from there. So far, another one million have been given directly to organizations and workplaces.

Perrin Beatty, CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, welcomed the move.

“The third lockdown must be the last and, to ensure it is, we need to bring more tools to the fight against COVID-19,” he said in a news release.

“Rapid testing will play an important role in keeping workers safe and helping many businesses reopen and stay open. That’s the only path to real, sustainable economic recovery,” Beatty said.

Meanwhile, some 2,000 Alberta truck drivers who transport goods across the border will, as of Monday, be able to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a rest stop in Montana at no cost and without appointments.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba have similar deals with North Dakota.