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Nov 23, 2020 6:31 PM -

BC's seniors advocate is calling for rapid testing of all staff at long-term care homes

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Specimens to be tested for COVID-19 are seen at LifeLabs after being logged upon receipt at the company's lab, in Surrey, B.C., on March 26, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

As COVID-19 infections surge, BC's seniors advocate is calling for rapid testing of all staff at long-term care homes.

Isobel Mackenzie says rapid tests that produce results within 30 minutes could help catch infected staff who aren't experiencing symptoms and who could unknowingly spread the illness.

About 3.8 million of the tests that don't need to be processed in a lab recently arrived in Canada and many provincial health authorities across the country are still evaluating how to use them.

BC's provincial health officer, Doctor Bonnie Henry, has said the rapid tests are not as sensitive as lab tests, and Mackenzie agrees, but the seniors advocate says they could be used in conjunction with lab tests that yield results in 24 hours.

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