COVID-19 rapid antigen tests: Everything you need to know

Rapid tests for COVID-19 are being used in some workplaces and schools across Canada. Here's what you should know about this screening tool.

Rapid antigen tests for COVID-19 are quicker and easier, but also less accurate, than the PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests that Canada has relied upon during the pandemic.

But as various provinces make rapid antigen tests more widely available to businesses, schools and other groups, here’s what you need to know about how to use them.

Rapid tests are for people who have no symptoms of COVID-19, like coughing or fever, said Sarah Mostowich, program lead for the StaySafe Initiative, which provides rapid test kits in Waterloo Region in Ontario.

She said it’s important to note that rapid tests are generally offered as part of a frequent testing program and aren’t normally administered just once.

“This is something that should be done two to three times a week or so if you’re feeling healthy,” Mostowich said.

The idea is to use it as a screening tool, to catch whether you have COVID-19 before you potentially spread it to others in your workplace, school or other higher-risk setting, she said.

With COVID-19, people who don’t have symptoms can still transmit the virus, she said, “And so it’s really important for us to have a measure to detect and shut down asymptomatic transmission.”

“It’s not a diagnostic tool. It is a screen that people are using similar to when someone does a temperature check on you before you enter the door, similar to the symptom-screening questionnaires that you have to answer. And this is another tool to kind of rule out whether you have COVID or not.”