Rapid tests offer ‘layer’ of protection against COVID-19: Shahab

There won’t be any change to public health orders in Saskatchewan — at least not in the foreseeable future.

During a news conference on Wednesday, Education Minister Dustin Duncan, joined by chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahab and the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s Derek Miller, stressed there are already “layers” of protection the public can and should use.

That includes the millions of rapid antigen tests that have already been delivered to the province and distributed by schools, libraries and businesses. Shahab said for those who are asymptomatic or showing no symptoms of illness, rapid tests are useful.

“Rapid tests do work well against Omicron. Quite well … Obviously if you’re symptomatic you should stay home until your symptoms are better and you may go for a PCR test … but for most people who are asymptomatic and have concerns … the tests do work well. But obviously, all the other layers are important,” he added.

That includes donning a mask when outside of your home and keeping contacts to a minimum.

“Within that framework, rapid antigen tests work well,” he said. “They’re not 100 per cent, just like anything else.”

Shahab said Saskatchewan is just seeing the beginning of the Omicron surge, and is likely behind several other provinces by a week or two, adding there’s likely to be a surge of Omicron cases not seen before.

“Everything we do in terms of self-testing, staying home for those five days, and of course, continuing to get vaccinated and boosted is going to be critical to reduce our overall numbers even though they will be much higher than we’ve seen before,” he said.

He also stressed those who are experiencing cold- or flu-like symptoms should get a PCR test.

Over the last several days, there have been long lines at PCR testing centres in Saskatoon, Regina, and other areas of the province. Some people have waited several hours to get a test or are told to come back another time after capacity had been reached.

Miller said the SHA was working to address those concerns.

“We are aware that in some test sites in the province … there were a few days where the lineups were longer and also waiting longer times in order to actually book an appointment for a test, so we are working to augment our resources in those locations and ensure we’re able to meet demand,” he said.

No information was provided on how that would take place, be it through additional staffing, adjusting hours of operation or adding any testing locations.

In Saskatoon on Wednesday, the SHA issued a notice on Twitter indicating it had already reached testing capacity at its Thatcher Avenue testing location just 40 minutes after it opened its doors.

Hours typically run on weekdays from noon until 7:30 p.m.