Created 9 October 2023
Another thing I feel that hardly anyone knows is that in Ontario, eligibility for PCR testing is quite wide. It was changed when they broadened to Paxlovid, because it’s important to be certain you have Covid before taking that medication.
Anyone symptomatic who falls into categories such as the following can get a PCR test:
- Anyone 60 or older
- Anyone 18 to 59 at higher risk, including:
- Having a chronic medical condition such as diabetes, obesity (which is about 30% of the population), or a heart condition
- Being pregnant
- Being more than 6 months out from your last Covid vaccine (at the moment, this is something like 96% of the population!) or infection
And even if asymptomatic, there’s a fairly big list of people who qualify, including:
- First Nation, Inuit, and Métis individual and their household members
- Anyone undergoing surgery (you can get tested 24 to 48 hours before)
- Anyone undergoing cancer treatment
This is important to know, because rapid tests are less available now (though I’ve read that many Ontario pharmacies still have a decent stock of free tests at this point), and of course they aren’t as sensitive. This new study found that on the first day of symptoms, the rapid tests are effective at detecting 30% to 60% of the time, whereas on the fourth day, it detects 80% to 93%.
If you’re interested in taking Paxlovid, or just keen to try to protect other people, finding out sooner is better.
This is the official Ontario government page about this, which includes a link for finding testing locations:
https://www.ontario.ca/page/covid-19-testing-and-treatment#section-2
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