Questions are being asked about the impact of cold temperatures on the effectiveness of rapid antigen COVID tests being distributed across the province via Canada Post.

Public Health says it has consulted with the manufacturer and has been told that the company has completed stability studies showing the test performance is not affected by extreme shipping conditions such as freezing temperatures.

Public Health says long-term storage is recommended to be between 2 and 30 degrees Celcius. Minor variations in temperature are expected during shipping, and Public Health is suggesting that people monitor their mailboxes and retrieve their tests as quickly as possible.

The test kit and test components must be brought to room temperature before use.