McGill to offer rapid COVID testing for students, staff

A health worker shows a positive 'SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen' test just after collecting a nose swab sample for a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) at the coronavirus testing facility of Unisante, the university center for general medicine and public health, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP)

MONTREAL -

Beginning Nov. 8, McGill University will offer rapid COVID-19 tests to asymptomatic students and staff through a pilot project, it was announced last week.

The Abbott Panbio rapid antigen detection tests (RADT), which produces results in as little as 15 minutes, will be offered on a voluntary basis.

Between four to eight tests can be conducted every 20 minutes, according to the McGill website.

While the test will be accessible to all students, staff and faculty, a few rules are in place.

Participants must be asymptomatic, as current health restrictions prohibit anyone with COVID symptoms from entering campus.

Sample collection, which involves performing a nasal swab, must be self-administered. Trained staff will be present to provide guidance.

If a participant tests positive for the virus, they must agree to confirm their result by visiting an authorized testing site, as rapid tests are considered less accurate. If they test positive once more, they are instructed to contact the university to facilitate contact tracing.

And finally, participants will not be provided with documentation of their results after their rapid test is complete.

"While the results will be shared with participants, they cannot be used as proof of a negative test result for travel or any other purposes," reads the McGill website.

Although rapid testing has been implemented in various elementary and high schools across Montreal, McGill is the city's first university to bring it to campus.  

While the pilot project has the potential to reduce transmission of the virus, McGill says it is not intended "to replace existing health measures [...] such as masking and distancing."