In the https://staysafescreen.ca/ community testing program we’ve been using a new type of screening test with amazing properties:
78% sensitivity
99.996% specificity
<$7/test (90% gov’t subsidized)
Avg. 15 minutes for negative, 45 min for positive
Best of all: already HC approved!
It’s simply an Abbott Panbio antigen test, with presumptive positives followed up with a Lucira check-it rapid molecular test.
Fast, cheap and sensitive enough to be a highly effective screening tool but with almost zero false positives.
And in case it’s not clear, this is still just a “screening test”, not a medical diagnostic. We always encourage presumptive positives (even with a positive rapid molecular test) to go to public health for confirmatory PCR testing.