The StaySafe project uses a relatively decentralized model that has users swabbing their own noses, with trained people nearby to help. The swabs are painless, only needing to go half an inch into the nose. StaySafe uses the Abbott Panbio devices, and Klugman said they’re easy to operate once you’ve got the hang of it: you do the swab, swirl it in fluid and then wait for lines to show up on the testing device.
The program is partly inspired by Nova Scotia, which has been doing free pop-up rapid testing centres since November. As with the Nova Scotia program, the main goal with StaySafe’s mobile units is to get the community engaged and comfortable with the idea of getting tested frequently.
A huge struggle in getting rapid testing implemented in Canada has been to get health officials and political leaders to stop treating it as equivalent to a laboratory diagnostic test. It was never necessary to have nurses perform rapid tests, at least once the less invasive nose swab was available. Provinces have always been free to set their own guidance on this, as Nova Scotia did early on.
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