Survey: Canadians more comfortable with activities if COVID-19 testing expanded

As the number of COVID-19 cases being reported rise across the country, and with the start of the new school year, expanding asymptomatic testing could put some Canadian minds at ease.

According to an Abacus Data poll commissioned by the Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA), nearly a third, (31%) of Canadians said that they would be more comfortable with sending their kids to school if testing was available at more locations. 

The survey also found that 38 per cent of respondents said they would be more comfortable going to work if there was better access to testing, and 28 per cent said they would be more comfortable going to restaurants. 

In terms of expanded testing, the survey asked if Canadians would feel comfortable with their local pharmacist administering asymptomatic COVID-19 tests, in which 75 per cent of respondents said that they would be ‘comfortable’ or ‘very comfortable’.

“Increasing COVID-19 testing is critical to limit the spread of COVD-19,” the Director of Knowledge Translation and Practice Development, Shelita Dattani, said in a statement on Wednesday.  

Forty-one per cent of respondents also said that they would be more likely to get a COVID-19 test if pharmacists were able to do them in their local province.

There has been some recent pressure on Health Canada to approve rapid tests as Canadians are forced to wait in long lines in testing centres across the country. A rapid test can produce quick results and be used in places such as doctor offices, pharmacies, walk-in clinics and long term care facilities.

In a press release from the CPhA, they said that they encourage governments to pursue enhanced testing strategies that will increase access to Canadians in order to slow down the rates of COVID-19 infections across Canada. 

The Abacus Date poll surveyed 2,410 Canadians residents aged 18 and up over a period from Aug. 28 to Sept. 3.