An impressive number of COVID-19 screening tests have been carried out over the past two weeks in Quebec, weakening the reserves of reagents and other liquids necessary for analyzes.
On December 22 alone, a record number of 64,496 tests were performed in Quebec. However, the province’s screening capacity is 50,000 tests per day. The number of tests continued to exceed that number over the holidays.
“The current situation shows that the sampling and analysis capacity has been significantly exceeded in several regions of Quebec,” acknowledges Robert Maranda, media relations manager for the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS).
PHOTO DAVID BOILY, PRESS ARCHIVES
Queue at the COVID-19 screening center at the CLSC de Parc-Extension on December 21
However, the reserves of the various liquids necessary for the analysis of the tests, such as reagents, could represent a problem, warns the Alliance of professional and technical personnel in health and social services. This union represents more than 5,400 members of analytical laboratories in the province.
Two of them, coming from different regions, agreed to meet with Press. They requested anonymity, as they did not have the right to speak publicly on this issue.
“We play on the reagents we have, but we do not have a month in advance to overcome the coming weeks,” said one of them. In his laboratory, awaiting an order, there were reagents left for a single day, he said.
Other missing items
In another laboratory, it was rather the transport medium, i.e. the liquid in the test tubes, that was missing: the company responsible could no longer meet the demand.
“For the moment, the supply of reagents is not a major issue. But there is an issue with regard to the supply of PCR Media collection tubes, ”confirmed Robert Maranda, from the MSSS.
These tubes are used in particular in Roche Cobas automated equipment, widely used by many laboratories.
This situation affects the regions of Montreal, the Capitale-Nationale, Estrie and the northern crown of Montreal, according to the MSSS.
“Several actions have already been taken to ensure that no shortage is observed,” says Mr. Maranda. Other collection tubes and transport media [liquide dans le tube] can, for example, be used, especially saline and molecular water. ”
The situation worries, however, an employee of a laboratory that uses this equipment. “We have a plan B, which is to use another transport medium which means that we have to do more handling,” she says. But it does not attenuate the virus, so we are more likely to infect ourselves. And more contamination, more techniques, that means more delays. ”
11.2 million rapid tests delivered in December
The Minister of Health of Canada, Jean-Yves Duclos, affirmed on Twitter Thursday that the federal government had delivered “11.2 million rapid tests in Quebec for the month of December alone. Quebec’s demand was 10 million ”. In an email, the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) said the Quebec government was “dependent on deliveries from the federal government.” “However, we confirm that the MSSS is currently looking at the various options for obtaining rapid tests in order to accelerate their distribution within the population,” said Robert Maranda, public relations officer for the MSSS. “Several million additional tests will follow over the next few weeks,” Minister Duclos also tweeted.