The North Bay & District Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that, in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, the Government of Ontario and the Government of Canada, the chamber will be providing free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Screening kits to small and medium-sized businesses with 150 or fewer employees.
These rapid self-screening tests will play an essential role in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, by allowing businesses enhanced workplace screening to identify and isolate COVID-19 cases among their staff, thereby keeping their employees, workplaces and customers safe. Rapid testing is critical to curbing the spread of the virus and allowing businesses to open safely.
The latest information from Health Canada suggests that up to one-third of people carrying the virus are asymptomatic causing little or no noticeable signs, however, over 50% of known cases were transmitted by an asymptomatic carrier. This makes it incredibly important to find asymptomatic carriers in order to combat the spread and get to more normalized community life.
A COVID-19 rapid screening test can be performed anywhere (e.g., on-site, at the place of employment) and does not require shipping a specimen to a lab for processing. It takes approximately 15 minutes to yield a result.
Businesses can place an order via a portal (click here to learn more). Kits will then be available for pick-up at the NBDCC office at a scheduled date and time.
The Ontario Ministry of Health recommends businesses screen their employees twice a week using these tests. As part of this program, the Ministry of Health and Health Canada require participating businesses to report the positive, negative, and inconclusive results of each test and that reporting must be done electronically through the portal.
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