With the Omicron variant of COVID-19 now being treated more like other respiratory illnesses, changes have been announced to who is and isn’t eligible for testing at public health testing sites.
“This is a rapidly evolving situation with Omicron and I know that when public health guidance changes, the changes raise a lot of questions and concerns,” said Dr. Bonnie Henry, provincial health officer.
The new testing eligibility requirements mean that most British Columbians no longer qualify for government-funded rapid antigen or PCR testing.
Testing is now only recommended for a very specific group of symptomatic people.
They include those who are moderate to severely immunocompromised, people who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated over the age of 18 and people who live or work in high-risk settings, such as healthcare workers.
“We do know that it is important to test certain people, particular people, where are you might be eligible for treatment or you may be more at risk of severe illness, or for people like healthcare workers where we need to understand when it’s safe to go back to work,” said Henry at Tuesday afternoon’s news conference.
“There is an online tool for individuals to fill out, to do the self-assessment of whether their symptoms qualify for testing,” said Dr. Silvina Mema, medical health officer for Interior Health. “They would certainly qualify if they meet, if they pass the requirement”
But passing the requirement isn’t that easy.
Take, for instance, a person who is fully vaccinated, doesn’t live or work in a high-risk setting but has nine moderate symptoms of COVID including fever, shortness of breath, headache and extreme fatigue.
The assessment determines that a COVID test is not recommended.
With fewer people now qualifying for tests at public health sites, more and more are turning to rapid tests that can be administered at home.
But with a global shortage of the tests — it’s not known when the tests will be available for purchase at local pharmacies.