COVID-19 testing kits to be distributed to Quebec parents with kids in daycare

Starting Monday, rapid COVID-19 tests will be distributed to parents who have children in Quebec's public or subsidized daycare network.

This is the first time that home-testing kits have been made available in the province. More than 1.5 million tests will be distributed across Quebec.

Parents will receive a kit containing five tests with an explanatory note. It will be up to the daycare providers to distribute the tests, the province's Health Ministry announced Thursday.

"This additional tool is part of the government's screening strategy and represents a first step in bringing more autonomy in the way Quebecers are screened," the ministry said in a statement.

"This will simplify the daily life of parents as the holidays approach."

These tests are intended primarily for children, given the fact that most are not yet vaccinated, the statement says.

In the event that the rapid result is positive, parents must go with the child to a designated screening centre in their region to have this diagnosis confirmed by a laboratory test and to have the other members of the family tested.

Daycare staff are not authorized to carry out the testing themselves, even with parents' consent.