If your company and staff are located in Quebec, you can now have free access to rapid tests for COVID-19 antigens. PanbioTM tests with nasal sampling are preferred. You can request one from the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS).
Eligibility
- You are a company or community organization;
- Your staff must work in Quebec, and the nature of their work must not allow them to telecommute.
Requirements
Have a designated person trained under the authority of the MSSS
As a company, you must designate at least one person to undertake training in the use of rapid antigen tests and in biosafety. This training is provided under the authority of the MSSS.
Obtain free and informed consent from employees
As an employer, you will be responsible for obtaining the free and informed consent of each member of staff by :
- informing him
benefits and limitations of these tests
; - ensuring that screening remains voluntary and not compulsory;
- pledging that a person who refuses to undergo a test will not be harmed in any way.
Implement infection control and protection measures
You will need to :
- Put in place the means to ensure rigorous compliance with infection prevention and control (IPC) measures;
- Remind your staff of the PCI measures in place. To find out more, consult the document
Hierarchy of control measures in the workplace – COVID-19 prevention measures in the workplace
from INSPQ; - Continued vigilance in the application of PCI measures. Rapid tests can never replace these measures;
- Inform staff of the obligation to maintain PCI measures, even if their test result is negative.
Manage test results and follow-ups
- Employees designated and trained for screening are informed that if they test positive to the PanbioTM rapid test, they will be required to undergo a laboratory test (NAAT) at one of the screening centers to confirm their test result.
- Employees should be advised to isolate themselves and any persons living with them who are not fully protected, while awaiting the results of the diagnostic test. A person is considered fully protected if he or she is in one of the following situations:
- she received her second dose of vaccine 7 days ago or more,
- she has had COVID-19 for 6 months or less,
- she has had COVID-19 for more than 6 months and received a dose of vaccine 7 days ago or more.
- The company undertakes to cooperate with local public health authorities in any investigations.
- Disclosure of results must respect confidentiality.
If you have any questions about this news item,
contact us
!
