Ottawa struggles to provide 140 million rapid tests to provinces
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos says Canada is in crisis when it comes to COVID-19 PCR testing capacity, as Ottawa struggles to make good on its promise to deliver 140 million rapid tests to provinces by the end of the month.
It has caused provincial case counts to soar, overwhelmed testing sites and has prompted doctors to warn that hospitals are being pushed to the brink. Manitoba Health says it’s been told by Ottawa the province is allotted five million tests a month. A recent shipping notice confirmed it would get a total of 700,000 devices for January. It has already received 132,000.
“There are issues with respect to the supply chain. And those deal with issues of labour, issues of accessing raw materials, and also the cargo planes and getting transportation,” she said during Wednesday’s federal COVID-19 briefing in Ottawa. Underpinning the problem is the underdevelopment of the health-care supply chain and lack of domestic manufacturing, she said, adding Canada is at a competitive disadvantage compared to larger markets like the U.S., as countries race to find suppliers.