Sask. elementary schools running out of rapid COVID-19 tests
CBC
Elementary schools in Saskatchewan are running out of COVID-19 self-testing kits for home use as soon as they arrive.
The rapid antigen kits are being sent to schools this week for distribution in the province's four biggest divisions — Regina Public Schools, Regina Catholic Schools, Saskatoon Public Schools, and Greater Saskatoon Catholic Schools. But some parents said their schools were not given enough tests.
Jamie Kirkpatrick said he couldn't get a test for his 10-year-old son, who had a positive COVID case in his class at a Saskatoon public school.
The school told Kirkpatrick it only received 65 kits, but had 206 requests.
"When I spoke with the administration, they said: 'This is what we were given,' and they expect that more will come," he said, adding the school didn't know when more tests would arrive.
"No one seems to have received the amount that they actually need to distribute," Kirkpatrick said.
Veronica Baker, manager of communications and marketing at Saskatoon Public Schools, said the division received "a limited number of test kits" for each of the 51 elementary schools and that they'd be delivered by the end of the day on Tuesday.