LAKELAND - Clinical pilots of rapid point-of-case testing for COVID-19 started in the region last week in Bonnyville, and this week in St. Paul.
"Bonnyville was chosen as the first site in our clinical pilot because it is a smaller, relatively low volume testing site where patients can be tested and notified of results directly by hospital staff," according to information from Alberta Health Services (AHS).
Pilots also started at assessment centres in St. Paul and Calgary, earlier this week, and are expected to be expanded to Slave Lake and Edmonton later in the week.
"The tests are being used on patients that are within the first seven days of exhibiting symptoms, allowing APL (Alberta Precision Laboratories) to quickly identify and notify positive cases within hours, reducing the need for patient samples to be transported to centralized public laboratories in Edmonton and Calgary for processing," according to information from AHS spokesperson Lisa Laferriere.
The rapid testing is expected to speed up the appropriate care and isolation of patients, which should in turn help reduce the spread of COVID-19 in communities.
"During the clinical pilot phase, all negative results will be sent to the provincial labs for confirmation to ensure no positive cases are missed," according to AHS.
These pilots are the final step in APL's evaluation of the accuracy of the rapid testing systems. Information gathered will be used to streamline processes related to patient management, results notifications and digital record keeping before the rapid tests are made available across the rest of the province.
If a person is eligible and consents to receive a rapid point-of-case COVID-19 test, two swabs will be collected at the time of their appointment, as all negative results will require additional confirmation by the lab during the clinical pilot phase, according to AHS.
