Even though they're widely available, Sask. top doc warns against 'overuse' of rapid COVID-19 tests

Saskatoon -

Despite a high number of available COVID-19 rapid tests compared to other provinces, Saskatchewan's top doctor says it's important not to "overuse" them.

"You know some people are doing antigen tests daily or three times a day," Chief Medical Health Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab said during a news conference in Regina on Wednesday.

"For most people doing an antigen test on a Monday, for example, is good in terms of going to school or work."

If there are concerns about high transmission in a school or workplace, Shahab suggests adding a second test on Wednesday or Thursday.

On Dec. 30, in response to the surge in Omicron variant COVID-19 cases, the Saskatchewan government began directing people living in the province to self-test using at-home rapid antigen tests — initially recommending asymptomatic people who test positive skip the more reliable PCR testing offered by the health authority.

In a news release sent on Wednesday, the government said people with "mild cold-like symptoms including cough, sore throat, sneezing without fever" should also rely on at-home testing.

Speaking to reporters at the news conference, Premier Scott Moe said the province can deliver about 4,000 PCR tests daily, compared to the roughly 125,000 daily rapid antigen tests currently available to the people of Saskatchewan.

Moe called rapid tests "one of the more significant tools" people can use to slow the spread of the virus.

“It's convenient and quick, and it gives you some pretty good guidance in a much more reasonable timeframe as to whether you may have actually contracted COVID,” he said.

Shahab said the shift to self-testing means the gap is quickly growing between the province's official count of COVID-19 cases and the actual number of people infected with coronavirus. 

There is currently no way to report positive home tests to the province.

“We'll still have (case counts) based on PCR testing, but they're not going to be informative,” Shahab said.

“Last week I said maybe they’re catching 42 per cent of actual cases, now it may be 20 to 30 per cent, some jurisdictions are saying that it’s maybe 10 per cent.”

Shahab's comments come as a federal agency estimates there could be more than 24,000 active cases in the Saskatoon area alone.

On Wednesday, there were 2,676 confirmed cases in the Saskatoon area according to the province.

Shahab said the province will no longer rely on testing numbers alone in this different phase of the pandemic.

“We will have to rely more on the lagging indicator of hospitalizations,” he said.