OTTAWA – Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Thursday criticized the liberal federal government for not considering emergency approval for immediate COVID-19 testing after he and his circle of relatives joined a developing list of Canadians who were rejected after hours of overcrowded waiting. test centers.
O’Toole, his wife Rebecca, and their children, Mollie and Jack, were luckier than most: After failing to get tested on Wednesday in Ottawa, they were tested Thursday morning with a new program that gives fasting for people managed by the private sector. COVID-19 testing for parliamentarians.
But O’Toole said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants to explain to Canadians how, seven months after a pandemic began, Canada has not followed the United States and has not approved quick control kits that can produce effects in minutes instead of hours.
“Trudeau’s liberals created this mess by refusing to pass other testing strategies, even though all of our allies have, for months, several tests, adding much faster and less invasive strategies,” O’Toole said in a written statement.
“I am the thousands of Canadian families who line up today for testing.
Demand for testing skyrocketed last week when young people returned to school and screening clinics across the country struggled to stay awake. In Ottawa, some others reported waiting up to six hours to get tested, while others, like the O’Toole, waited. hours without even going in.
The O’Toole are remote waiting for verification effects after one of their staff members, with whom he was traveling, tested positive for COVID-19 this week.
O’Toole’s family circle presented an appointment through Ottawa Public Health for testing on Friday, but the House of Commons was able to schedule them a day earlier.
House of Commons spokeswoman Heather Bradley said that since March, MPs have had a doctor on call on the phone for any COVID-19-related issues, and now the doctor can also conduct COVID-19 tests.
“As the pandemic evolved, home management helped cover members’ express desires, including, exceptionally, COVID-19 testing,” Bradley said.
Tests are conducted privately and paid for through the House of Commons.
Health Canada has only approved molecular controls for COVID-19, which are looking for genetic curtains for the new coronavirus. Nasal swabs taken from control sites should be sent to a laboratory and checks take up to 24 hours to unload a result. not to mention the time it takes to get to a lab or the time it takes to enter the result on a computer and transmit it.
Rapid tests that look for virus antigens, molecules that attach to the outside of a virus and cause the body’s immune reaction, can be done without having to go to a lab in just 15 minutes.
Antigen tests are less accurate than molecular tests and more give false negative results.
Trudeau’s liberals created this mess by refusing to approve other methods
But being able to temporarily control others with known symptoms or exposure to COVID-19 is essential to control the pandemic. If it takes several days to get the results of the checks, it means it takes longer to identify a positive patient’s imaginable contacts and for those other people to be reviewed. In the meantime, they can simply spread the virus without knowing it.
Health Canada is reviewing at least six antigen tests, 4 of which are “under review” and two are waiting for more data from the corporations involved. Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Wednesday that the government would compromise protection and speed power.
“The problem is that generation has not accelerated to the point where we have gained an approval check that is so accurate that we believe it is prudent to let it enter the Canadian market,” he said.
The U. S. Food and Drug Administration. It has issued emergency approvals for 3 antigen tests.
Health Canada passed an antigen check in May, but then retired when Health Canada decided it was not working well in the field.
Hajdu said having accurate evidence can make things worse.
“Can you believe a situation where other people can buy a quick check from a pharmacy, for example, and only have 50% accuracy?” he asked. We just haven’t arrived yet. We have not yet sent a check to Health Canada for approval that addresses regulator considerations about accuracy. »
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