EDMONTON, AB – It’s happening in Ontario and now Alberta’s New Democrat opposition wants to see the UCP government follow suit and do the same thing here.
The NDP wants the Alberta government to give every single one of the more than 733,000 school-aged children, five rapid COVID-19 tests to take home over the holidays.
NDP Education Critic Sarah Hoffman says this would help reduce the transmission of COVID-19 over the holidays.
“Knowing if you’re positive for COVID-19 before going to see your grandparents on Christmas Eve could give families time to plan so they don’t actually bring the virus into the homes of those most at risk. And in a few weeks time, students will be returning to classrooms and widespread rapid testing will ensure that they’re not bringing COVID back into schools after the holidays,” said Hoffman on Thursday.
It appears supply for these tests isn’t a problem. Alberta has 733,599 students, so Hoffman says arming them all with five rapid tests would equate to 3.6 million tests. The Province of Alberta currently has more than 5.6 million in its suppy.
As of Thursday afternoon, the UCP government had not responded to this request from the opposition.