Seven LCBOs across Ottawa will hand out free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests on a first-come, first-served basis starting Friday as the province eyes 10 other sites in the city to distribute tests next week.
The following locations will hand out kits starting Dec. 17 while supplies last:
- Bank Street and Walkley Road
- Carling Avenue and Woodroffe Road
- Rideau Street and King Edward Avenue
- Gloucester — Blair Road and Ogilvie Road
- Nepean — Hunt Club Road and Merivale Road
- Nepean — Strandherd Drive and Greenbank Road
- Orléans — Innes Road and Tenth Line Road
The kits are limited to one per person but will contain multiple tests. You don’t have to make a purchase at the LCBO to get a kit but you will have to line up at the checkout to receive one.
Anyone who does not have symptoms and has not been in contact with a person who recently tested positive for COVID-19 will be eligible to get a kit.
Ottawa is also expected to get separate shipments of free rapid antigen tests from the province starting on Dec. 21, according to Dr. Vera Etches.
The city’s medical officer of health told reporters Thursday afternoon that Ontario is still finalizing plans to hand out the rapid tests, but is eyeing 10 sites around the city as distribution points.
These sites are in addition to the LCBO distribution points, Ottawa Public Health confirmed to Global News.
Mayor Jim Watson said in the same media briefing that he’s hoping Ottawa can get rapid tests “sooner rather than later,” noting that several pop-up sites in the Greater Toronto Area have already been handing out tests this week.
“We’ll be working with the province to see if we can’t get those kits sooner,” he said.
It’s expected to be one kit per person at these distribution sites, leading Etches to field the question of how rapid tests can best be used.
While she said it’s ideal to use rapid tests regularly as a screening tool for the virus — that’s the aim of the tests being sent home from school with kids over the winter break — she said there is value in using a rapid test before planning to attend a gathering with vulnerable individuals.
Etches said rapid tests are actually better than initially thought at detecting infections when they’re contagious, especially when there are “high levels” of COVID-19 in the community.
“I’m supportive of people using rapid antigen tests, but there are limits,” she added.
A negative result on a rapid test is “not a guarantee” that someone doesn’t have the virus, for example, and positive results should be confirmed with a PCR test.
Anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 should seek a PCR test at a testing facility instead of opting for a rapid test.