Who can businesses give testing kits to and who can we screen?
 
You CANNOT give kits to anyone. They are ONLY for use with your employees that are frequently coming to the workplace. You also cannot test anyone else other than employees coming to the workplace, this is essential as reporting preliminary positives or inconclusive results may call into question your ability/authority to do so. Employees have the right to refuse, but when they comply that is consent to collect and report the data.


What is the accuracy of these tests?
 
Rapid antigen POCT are less sensitive and specific than lab-based PCR tests, meaning that results are not as accurate. As such, rapid antigen POCT may yield some false negative test results (i.e., a result that indicates the individual is not infected with COVID-19 when in fact they are), and to a lesser extent, some false positive test results (i.e., a result that indicates the individual is infected with COVID-19 when in fact they are not). In particular this is why NO ONE SHOWING SYMPTOMS should be screened using these tests, as a false negative result might put the organization in a compromising position.

How is the screening administered -through the nostril or mouth?
 
Rapid Antigen Screening uses a nasal swab and is not invasive. The requirement is the swab must be inserted into each nostril for 5 to 7 seconds 2 cm (1 inch) inside the nasal, while ensuring the inside of the nostril is wiped by the swab.

Who can perform the test on the employees?

The Ministry of Health has authorized that supervised self swabbing may occur if a trained individual (persons are considered training once they have watched the training video) or health professional is supervising the self swabbing.

Can I show my supervisors how to do the screens, have them watch the video to have them supervise the screens?
 
The Ministry of Health requires that a trained individual supervises the testing process. You will receive an email after your initial pick up, contained in that email is a link to report results as well as a link to the training video (https://youtu.be/RXIEz1YZFDQ) to use as a refresher and/or train other supervisors. Greg Durocher of the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce has also provided a very informative Screening Kit Training Video for your chamber/board of trade: https://youtu.be/FSw9C722WqM.

What is the frequency we should be testing our employees?
 
The recommendation from public health is that all employees should be tested twice per week. It is understood in some settings or with a higher frequency of close contact that some businesses will want to screen more than twice per week. Please advise us at admin@westnipissingchamber.ca, we would like to help but this will affect our required supply needs at the Chamber, and we may need to work with the province to obtain additional tests.

Conversely some may want to test less frequently or may have a variety of schedules that employees are in the workplace. It is really up to you, but please, put the safety of your employees first, and that will ensure you have a safe workplace.

Do these kits have an expiry date?
 
Yes, they do, however it appears that all of our supply has an expiry date in 2022. We will advise if we are getting close to the expiry dates. Kits should not be stored to be used at a later date. Using the kits after they expire cannot be assumed to have the accuracy they do prior to expiry. Caution should be taken to review the box and ensure they are not expired.

Do I only give tests to employees showing symptoms?
 
NO, in fact, it should be recognized that anyone showing symptoms must be kept OUT of the workplace and must not be allowed to return. The employee would need to provide proof of negative test to return to work (unless otherwise advised to stay home and isolate).

It is allergy season and people are experiencing symptoms like COVID-19, should we avoid screening people that may be experiencing allergy symptoms, or should we screen them regardless?

Again, anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19 could in fact be infectious and should not be tested, but rather diverted directly to self-isolate and book PCR test at an assessment centre. While we recognize some symptoms can resemble allergies, the risk to the workplace is not worth ignoring them. 

I am a consultant on workplace safety, can I order on behalf of my clients and screen their employees?
 
No, these kits are provided free of charge to small and medium sized businesses for their sole purpose. A designate employee must be assigned the responsibility of taking the supervisor training, ensuring proper screening processes are adhered to and reporting on behalf of the employer the results of the tests. There are avenues available for third party vendors to purchase their own kits and outside of this program to provide screening services, this program is intended to remain complimentary and direct to employers only.

Can I purchase extra kits so I can screen those I want to, if so, how much do they cost?
 
No, these are not for sale, we are not authorized to charge anyone for these kits, conversely the document you signed also requires that you not sell or distribute these as well. The test kits are provided in-kind from the provincial government. 

I noticed there are two packages marked Control Swabs, what do we use them for?
 
Contained in each kit are two Control Swabs, one will produce a Negative result the other will produce a Positive result. These are ONLY to be used by the trained individual or health professional conducting the tests, for quality control purposes. If you are finding that the results are not showing up on the testing cartridge's, you can follow the process in the manual provided to do a quality control check of the pads by simply following the same testing regime EXCEPT DO NOT SWAB ANYONE WITH THESE CONTROL SWABS, they have ingredients on them already to produce the results.
 
While the Positive Control Swab will show Positive for COVID-19, there is nothing on the swab that is infectious or that will pass COVID-19 it is a pre-loaded swab and should not be used for anything other than quality control.
 
If you have not found the answer to your questions please email:
admin@westnipissingchamber.ca