No rapid tests available in Kelowna, warns Interior Health authority
Vancouver -
The health authority responsible for Kelowna and West Kelowna is advising residents that COVID-19 rapid tests are currently unavailable, and that regular COVID-19 testing is only available by appointment.
In a statement released Jan. 8, Interior Health said the rapid tests are temporarily unavailable at its COVID-19 community collection centres.
Residents can still book online for an appointment to get a regular nasal swab test at the sites, but are advised to first use the B.C. COVID-19 Self-Assessment Tool to determine if testing is necessary.
The regular PCR tests are prioritized for people at higher risk, according to the health authority. This includes people aged 66 and older (regardless of vaccination status), kids aged four and under, health-care workers, and those living in shelters or group homes.
A shipment of rapid tests is expected to arrive in B.C. later this week, but many of those tests are already earmarked for school staff and teachers to use as part of the province’s school reopening plan following an extended winter holiday and a massive wave of COVID-19 infections due to omicron.
Health-care workers, residents of remote Indigenous communities and those at long-term care facilities will also be targets of the new shipment of rapid tests.
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