A joint partnership between Alberta Health Services (AHS) and Spartan Bioscience Inc. will see a faster, more convenient way to test for COVID-19.
"Spartan is honoured to partner with the province of Alberta and Alberta Health Services in the COVID-19 response," said Dr. Paul Lem, CEO of Spartan Bioscience Inc. "It is gratifying to see a made-in-Canada solution helping Canadians and is critical to Canada's response."
The Canadian tech company is in its final stages of developing an innovative handheld which will rapidly test for the novel virus. This new technology will be able to confirm test results in less than one hour which will in turn allow AHS to provide additional and expedient test results for COVID-19. By eliminating the need for samples to travel to the nearest lab, this will also allow for fluid testing in rural and Indigenous communities.
"This investment will ensure we can maintain our rapid pace in testing and alleviate pressures on our front-line workers with quick result confirmations," said Tyler Shandro, Minister of Health. "We have recognized a gap in our testing and I am pleased AHS is working swiftly with industry to find ways to ensure rapid testing for the virus is accessible for people in rural and remote communities."
Health Canada will approve the use of the rapid test kits within a few weeks. As part of the $9.5 million contract, AHS will receive 250 handheld devices and 100,000 testing kits which will be distributed to healthcare facilities outside of Edmonton and Calgary. The first shipment is set to arrive sometime next month.
Dr. Carolyn O'Hara, interim chief medical laboratory officer for Alberta Precision Laboratories (APL) says Alberta has led the way both nationally and internationally when it comes to COVID-19 testing.
"We have one of the highest rates of testing per capita than almost anywhere in the world," she said.
The new technology will be used in addition to AHS' current lab testing and will be augmented in areas where access to major labs can be an issue.
"This will help guide appropriate care and isolation, speed up our contact tracing, and reduce the risk of further spread," said Verna Yiu, AHS president and CEO.
