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The past few weeks have witnessed the emotional roller coaster of Ontario people. The advent of vaccines for children aged 5-11 has brought a glimmer of hope at the end of the long tunnel for many anxious parents. With the arrival of another worrying new variant, Omicron, this hope was quickly dashed, and Omicron swept South Africa at an alarming rate, now in Ontario.

Since a large part of our community is still not fully vaccinated, and winter is approaching, Omicron will become a very real threat faster than many people think. Our government must implement all possible cost-effective strategies and act quickly to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the future and another catastrophic wave in our province.

Even before Omicron, Delta was still a formidable opponent. As people move indoors predictably to escape the winter cold, the number of cases is rising. Elementary schools are now the largest source of active outbreaks—nearly 50%. As we entered the second holiday of the pandemic, exhausted by seemingly endless restrictions, it was difficult to persuade Ontarios to limit family activities to outdoor gatherings.

Despite the constant experience of deja vu, now nearly two years and four waves of depth, it is surprising that the tools in the pandemic toolbox have not been honed and brandished for use in Ontario’s fight against tireless enemies: fast Antigen test.

These home tests are commonly used in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom and Germany, as well as other provinces in Canada, such as Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Saskatchewan. With a simple nasal swab (no brain itching here), a quick antigen test can be done quickly and easily at home. It detects if someone is currently infected with COVID-19, even if they have no symptoms. If your test result is negative, you can be confident about gathering with others and conducting daily activities; if the result is positive, you should perform a laboratory-based PCR test to confirm the result and isolate it before then.

In the fall of 2020, the federal government purchased millions of rapid test products and began distributing them to provinces. Governor Ford called the rapid test a "game changer" in our response to the pandemic. To date, Ontario has accepted more than 33 million tests. However, there are still more than 23 million unused tests and the location is unknown. Ontario has largely prioritized the distribution of quick tests to businesses, and when community-led test programs tried to access them, they were immediately rejected. If a person wants to take a quick test in Ontario today to socialize safely, they will need to pay out of their pocket (up to $40 per test) to get one at the pharmacy.

Although our provincial government recently promised to send five quick tests to every (face-to-face) public school student before the winter break, more work can and should be done. We must continue to expand free and fair rapid testing opportunities in Ontario and allow Ontario people to interact more safely now and after the holidays.

We strongly urge the Ontario government to follow the leadership of jurisdictions around the world and provide rapid antigen testing to everyone. This will ensure that we do not have to face another endless winter, such as a surge in the number of cases, inevitable closures, overburdened healthcare systems and virtual schools. Now is the time to accept the precautionary principle and proactively use the simple and reliable tests already available in our province to help stop COVID-19.

Quick tests should be used to help us gather safely during the holidays and the new year instead of collecting dust on the shelves. This should give us hope that relief and recovery are not just a wish, but a foreseeable reality.

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