Waiting game for rapid COVID-19 testing in Windsor-Essex

Delay in rapid COVID-19 testing The wait continues for faster COVID-19 testing in Windsor-Essex. Chris Campbell explains why.

Windsor, Ont. — Health Canada has approved rapid testing for COVID-19, but Windsor health officials say they are still waiting for more details on how it could be rolled out locally.

Windsor-Essex medical officer of health Dr. Wajid Ahmed says they have reached out to the public health unit lab to get more information.

“As soon as we get the go ahead from the province and the Public Health Ontario lab we will be asking that yep,if you have the access, then do it,” says Ahmed.

A backlog of testing has been a concern for some local health officials and residents. As of Tuesday, 4,324 have been people tested for COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex and 557 tests are pending.

Ahmed says as much as he wants those rapid-test kits to be available, he wants to make sure they are reliable.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where we are misdiagnosing someone or getting a false negative or false positive,” says Ahmed.

The Windsor-Essex County Health Unit is reporting 506 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Windsor-Essex, including 24 new cases and four more deaths on Tuesday.

The health unit also launched a COVID-19 Population Health Navigator online tool to help Windsor-Essex residents assess possible symptoms and answer questions from home.

Across the border, Michigan gov. Gretchen Whitmer says the state is working with major retailers to open more drive-thru sites to test as many as 1,000 people a day for COVID-19, especially people who don't have symptoms but still are required to work outside their home.

She said Monday that Walmart, Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid are part of the plan to open eight test sites.

With files from The Associated Press.