A new rapid test for COVID-19—approved this week—could soon be available in this province.

The federal government announced yesterday that it signed a deal with Abbott Rapid Diagnostics to purchase upwards of 20.5-million of the Panbio COVID-19 Antigen rapid tests.

Health Minister John Haggie says while the new test has been approved by Health Canada, they are primarily for areas with high numbers of COVID-19, or for remote or rural areas that don’t have quick access to high-tech labs.

Haggie says the province could make a case for their use in more isolated areas like Fogo Island, Harbour Breton, or the coast of Labrador. With that in mind, the Minister says he has reached out to local Indigenous leaders to lobby Ottawa for those tests to be available here as soon as possible.

The new point-of-care test is the first antigen device to be approved in Canada and can produce results in less than 20 minutes.

That’s promising, says Haggie, quickly adding that there still is no test that will tell if you will get COVID-19. He says the best screening test continues to be isolation.