Saskatoon fire halls not participating in at-home COVID test distribution

The City of Saskatoon is asking the public not to call or show up at fire halls throughout the city looking for COVID-19 at-home rapid test kits.

Last week, the province announced more than 2.6 million rapid tests would be distributed throughout the province, to facilities including schools, chambers of commerce, Saskatchewan Health Authority testing centres and participating fire halls.

The city says the Saskatoon Fire Department has been closed to the public since the pandemic began in March of 2020 and will not be taking part in distribution of the at-home rapid tests.

On Monday, the government said a number of the locations that were to start distributing the kits had been receiving calls and visits from people as soon as they were listed on the weekend — even though the kits hadn’t been sent out yet.

The government said the locations would be posted on its website when the kits arrive at those destinations. The kits will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.