Alberta doctors wary of potential fallout from limiting PCR testing

As Alberta, and other provinces, continue to scale back polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing due to demand driven up by the rapidly spreading Omicron variant, some doctors are questioning the potential future consequences for COVID-19 patients.

On Monday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Deena Hinshaw announced changes to PCR test eligibility. Those who qualify include continuing care residents and health-care workers in continuing care or acute settings with symptoms or part of an outbreak investigation, as well as hospital patients who develop symptoms.

If you test positive using an at-home rapid test, you're asked to take a picture of it and document it using a form on the government's website and share it with your family physician.

Calgary family physician Dr. Mukarram Zaidi said it's inappropriate to accept a picture as medical legal proof and is disappointed the onus is being placed on the patients.

"It’s absolutely unethical and illegal to do something like that," said Zaidi. "We are putting patients into a really wrong spot that they have to provide the proof. We shouldn’t be doing that."

Zaidi said not only are rapid tests difficult to find in Alberta, but he has patients whose employers are not accepting them as proof.

STRAIN ON EMPLOYEES

Dr. Hinshaw said employer demands of ill employees is also putting a strain on the system.

"I urge employers and organizations to not require proof of a positive COVID-19 result to support sick leave requests right now. Our test positivity is currently at 40 per cent. Anyone who has COVID symptoms almost certainly has COVID and should just be staying home," she said at Monday's press briefing.

Zaidi places the blame on the government, saying it's unacceptable that testing capabilities are strained this far into the pandemic that.

"We knew Omicron was highly contagious, we knew it would spread like a wildfire, we knew all these things but we still didn’t develop capacity of having more PCR testing," he said.

"Why doesn’t have the government have that capacity? It's just unbelievable."

There are also questions regarding what a lack of access to rapid tests or PCR tests could mean for medical coverage or long-term benefits.

"What are they going to do in the future if they are COVID positive? Are they going to get medical benefits?" questioned Zaidi.

Sarah Bara is considered a COVID-19 long-hauler and helps run a support group. She worries people will be limited in getting support if they develop long-term symptoms.

"I can tell you, even with my PCR tests and even with my supportive doctor, there were many hoops that had to be jumped through after that," explained Bara. "Then there’s trying to gain access to treatments. It is incredible concerning."

Alberta‘s Worker’s Compensation Board says as of right now it is accepting rapid antigen test as part of a claim.

"We can help arrange a secondary test to confirm the rapid tests results for example if that’s something that is necessary. So, I think it's just about getting that information to us so that we can get the claim started," says spokesperson Ben Dilly. 

Lorian Hardcastle, associate professor of the faculty of law at the University of Calgary, said it's unclear what insurers may ask for now or in the future, so Albertans should be prepared to show documentation.

"If people are unable to obtain a test right now all they can do is  to document their symptoms. If they do have a rapid test at home, take photos of that test. That's all they can do, and it's unfortunate the government has left us with this sort of do-it-yourself position."