Free COVID tests in Manitoba now a thing of the past

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This article was published 10/10/2024 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Home tests for COVID-19, which had been given out for years at various venues across the province, are free no more.

The rapid antigen test kits, seen at pharmacies, grocery stores, libraries and Liquor Marts, will now only be sent to places that house vulnerable people, including long-term care homes.

Some of the places that were distributing the free rapid tests may still have some but once they’re gone, they’re gone for good.

Dr. Brent Roussin, chief provincial public health officer, said advice has changed and the free tests aren’t necessary for the general public.

“The testing for COVID is really only important for people who are at risk for severe outcomes,” said Roussin.

“Those are older ages, those with significant underlying conditions. Those individuals will always have that opportunity to see a clinician if they are at risk because testing might inform treatment decisions … we don’t really need widespread testing in the community. It is only people who might benefit from treatment that really need to be tested.”

With the free tests disappearing, some pharmacies are now selling tests they’ve purchased from suppliers — at about $6 per individual test.

Roussin said that if people rely on a COVID test before visiting a vulnerable family member in a care home, they shouldn’t be using the test to make that decision.

“That person might have influenza or RSV,” he said. “We don’t want you to make decisions based on a negative COVID test because that doesn’t mean you should still go visit a vulnerable person.

“Our advice is, if you are ill, stay home until feeling better, regardless of what your COVID test was.”

Roussin said while COVID still has not settled into being a seasonal virus like influenza or a cold, society is in a different spot now with vaccines available.

“We’re not specifically isolating people, we’re not doing contact investigations anymore, so just the nature of things have changed so much,” he said.

Roussin said while there have been more cases of COVID than normal recently, “the impact on the health-care system and severe outcomes wasn’t as bad, so that’s the change.

“We have so much more immunity out there. The virulence of this pathogen has changed over time. It’s certainly still quite relevant and important, but it has changed quite significantly since we were in those early stages of the pandemic.”

COVID vaccines will be available to Manitobans beginning Oct. 15. The flu shot is currently available.

The province said both vaccines are already at medical clinics, access centres, pharmacies and nursing stations that serve high-risk people.

People who are at high risk are those 65 years of age and older, residents of personal care homes and long-term care facilities, Indigenous people, those with chronic health conditions, women who are pregnant, and children between the ages of six months to five years of age.

A flu and COVID-19 vaccine provider map is available at wfp.to/vaccines.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca