Meadow Lake's COVID-19 rapid testing unit is now online at the Meadow Lake Hospital. (Nicole Reis/meadowlakeNOW Staff)

By Nicole Reis

Expanding testing capacity

Meadow Lake and Prince Albert receive COVID-19 rapid testing units

Apr 13, 2020 | 5:05 PM

Prince Albert and Meadow Lake will be among the first communities in the province to receive COVID-19 rapid testing equipment.

While Meadow Lake’s unit is already operational, Prince Albert’s is expected to be up and running on Tuesday, Premier Scott Moe said at a press conference Monday.

“These units provide results on location in under four hours, without the swabs having to be submitted to the Roy Romanow Provincial Lab,” Moe said, adding more GeneXpert rapid testing units will be delivered to around a dozen further communities in the coming days.

“This should help us achieve our goal of 1,500 tests per day by the end of the month,” he said.

In a statement provided to meadowlakeNOW the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA) said Meadow Lake was one of the first communities, outside of Saskatoon and Regina, to receive molecular testing within the Laboratory Medicine Provincial Program.

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“Meadow Lake was identified as the first site to start with this testing platform due to the geographical distance to Saskatoon and Regina,” the SHA said. “Meadow Lake receives laboratory specimens from La Loche and Ile a la Crosse as well as surrounding area.

While the SHA utilizes a transportation plan to ensure specimens collected in the assessment sites are delivered to one of our laboratory testing locations, having a site closer to communities capable of providing analysis will reduce the time it takes to get results to patients.”

The SHA confirmed further testing units will be sent to Northern and rural communities in the coming days and weeks.

“This includes working with our First Nation partners to ensure all patients of Saskatchewan are provided equitability of care,” the SHA said.

With files from Alison Sandstrom

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nicole.reis@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @nicolereis7722