230,000 rapid COVID-19 test kits distributed in Alberta since Friday

The Government of Alberta says 230,000 rapid response COVID-19 antigen test kits have been picked up since Friday when they were first made available to the public.

The distribution comes as the number of Omicron variant cases has jumped in the province from 173 on Friday to a total of 1045 as of Monday.

"We're going to have numbers that are probably going to hit 1000 [per day] by the end of the week,” says Dr. Daniel Gregson with U of C's Cumming School of Medicine.

The province saw strong demand for the take-home test kits, with thousands of people braving frigidly cold weather on Friday to wait in lines outside pharmacies with the hope of grabbing one of the 500,000 kits available.

Cambrian Pharmacy in Calgary says they received about 430 rapid test kits Friday afternoon and all were gone within an hour of opening Saturday morning.

"You're listed on the AHS site as a supply site, but we didn't have them so there was a bit of frustration at first," says Mathieu Giroux, pharmacy manager at Cambrian Pharmacy.

CONFUSION OVER HOW TO USE KITS

Giroux says there is also confusion over how and when to use the kits. They can be used as a screening tool for asymptomatic people shortly before attending an event or as an initial test if you are feeling unwell. Any positive should be followed up with a PCR test through AHS.

The test is only as good as the person using it, which means reading and following the instructions carefully.

Each kit contains five tests. Albertans are limited to one kit every 14 days. 

"We'll resupply and expand as fast as we can get supply from the federal government," Alberta Health spokesperson Lisa Glover said in an email to CTV News.

"On top of the 2.5 million tests (500,000 kits) initially announced, we have two million more tests on hand that will be distributed in the coming days, and another one million additional tests (200,000 kits) with confirmed shipping dates later this month.

"We've requested another 4.3 million tests in December, and then we hope to increase to 10 million tests a month starting in January."

TESTS NOT PERFECT

Doctors are cautioning the tests are not perfect, and represent only another line of defence against the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. Given how quickly Omicron appears to be establishing itself as the dominate strain, Albertans need to start limiting their contacts and choosing which holiday gatherings are most important.

"People are often asymptomatic for a period of time or don't get symptoms at all when they have COVID," said Dr. Daniel Gregson with the Cumming School of Medicine. "The only way to really mitigate that if you're going to be doing that is to test people with rapid tests before they come in the house.”

The province said all five of Alberta's health zones received initial shipments to ensure there would be tests available at 700 locations in more than 140 communities across the province.

The government said AHS sites and pharmacies will receive more tests early this week.

"There will inevitably be some variance in delivery/arrival time at individual pharmacies or other settings," Glover said. "Deliveries depend on many factors, including weather and road conditions on a given day."

If the location you're at doesn't have any kits available, the province is encouraging Albertans to look online to find another location.

"Due to the nature of the program, supplying hundreds of locations, we do not have the ability to provide real-time reporting on individual sites or communities," Glover said.

Albertans are able to pick up a kit on behalf of a friend or family member as long as they have their Alberta Health Card.

HIGH DEMAND IN LETHBRIDGE

In Lethbridge demand was high after running out of all 4,000 tests received Friday within the first ten minutes.

"I rushed right over and here I am," said Lethbrid resident Dan Turmel.

"(I'm) just very happy I was able to pick them up. Don't know how many they have, but that's irrelevant because I have two."

With Christmas merely days away, and many plans already in place, residents say they're ready to see family for the holidays once again and relieved to have a test to visit more safely.

"We didn't actually see anybody last Christmas," Robyn Scarfe said after picking up her own rapid tests.

"However, this year we're looking forward to having our small gathering of all vaccinated people in our household and hopefully we're just going to be able to spend some time together with people we haven't seen in a long time."

Tests are going quickly and any that remain can be picked up at the Alberta Health Services building in Lethbridge's downtown.

COVID can have up to a 14 day incubation period and according to Health Canada people can spread the virus as many as three days before becoming symptomatic.

With files from Sean Marks