Peterborough Businesses Offered Free Rapid Screening COVID-19 Tests
/Another step to battle COVID-19 is here as small and medium-sized businesses can access free rapid antigen tests from the Ontario Government.
MPP Dave Smith led the rapid test program for Ontario since March. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
The launch of the Peterborough-Kawartha’s rapid testing initiative was announced by MPP Dave Smith with members of the Peterborough Chamber of Commerce and Downtown Business Improvement Area on July 16.
Businesses with under 150 employees can sign up at the Peterborough Chamber website and can receive the testing kits within 24 hours.
Smith gave a private demonstration just outside his Water Street constituency office Thursday afternoon for PTBOCanada. The test is done with a swab that entered the sinus area through the nose, twisting three times for a sample before being combined in an antigen solution. The liquid is placed onto a testing kit and operates similarly to a pregnancy test.
Results take no more than 15 minutes but typically take three to five minutes according to Smith. He recommends that businesses test twice a week.
“It doesn't show if you are infected with COVID-19, that's what the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test does," said Smith. "What it shows is that you have the COVID-19 virus in your sinuses and you have the opportunity to spread it to someone else when you breathe."
Anyone testing positive or inconclusive must book a lab-based PCR test as soon as possible within 48 hours of the test.
Two test results indicating that the COVID-19 virus is not present in the sinuses. Photo by David Tuan Bui.
