It doesn’t appear as though the provincial government will be implementing point-of-entry COVID testing anytime soon.
Many, including rotational workers who must travel back and forth outside the province regularly, have been asking for point-of-entry testing to help identify potential COVID cases sooner. The province has been relying on a two week period of self-isolation for workers and other travelers.
Premier Andrew Furey says there is no evidence that point-of-entry testing lowers the risk of COVID spread in the community. He says because it hasn’t been proven scientifically, it creates a false sense of hope for people who test negative.
Premier Furey, a surgeon by profession, says studies show that point of exit testing at the time of quarantine is most effective. He says there is a 30 per cent false negative rate when it comes to early testing.
Premier Furey told reporters yesterday that if the province implemented point-of-entry testing, three out of every ten people testing could be walking around the community with the virus. That is why self-isolation has proven more effective.
Meanwhile, an interim report on the feasibility of an airport-based surveillance program shows what’s being called “encouraging” results.
The McMaster Health Labs Study considered the largest of its kind in the world, collected COVID test data from people at three points of time, on arrival, and at days seven and fourteen.
The study was conducted between September 3 and November 14. Interim results are based on more than 20,000 tests conducted on more than 8600 study participants. The interim results showed that 99 per cent of participants tested negative for COVID-19.
The study shows that of the one per cent who tested positive, 0.7 per cent were detected on arrival, 0.3 per cent were detected on Day 7 and fewer than 0.1 per cent were detected on Day 14.
McMaster says the pilot phase of the project has demonstrated the feasibility of airport-based testing with self-collected nasal/oral swabs as well as home-based collection during quarantine.
The final report will be based on more than 16,000 participants completing more than 40,000 tests.
