Wednesday, July 1, 2026
ADVT 
National

Leave regulators to approve COVID tests: Freeland

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 24 Sep, 2020 08:27 PM
  • Leave regulators to approve COVID tests: Freeland

Health Canada says it can't provide any information about the status of any of the rapid-testing devices for COVID-19 it is reviewing.

Pressure is mounting on the federal government to approve tests that can provide faster results as hospitals and public health agencies across Canada struggle to keep up with the demand for COVID-19 testing.

Deputy Conservative leader Candice Bergen says the government promised in March that getting rapid tests was a priority and yet half a year later, there are still none in use in Canada.

At least 14 such devices are under review by Health Canada but the department's spokesman says he cannot comment on the status of the applications during the scientific assessment process.

Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says it would be wrong for politicians to put pressure on Health Canada to approve any of the devices.

Several other countries have had some of the faster tests in use for months now, including Japan and the United States, but Health Minister Patty Hajdu said last week Canada is not yet convinced the technology is good enough.

MORE National ARTICLES

Supreme Court Of Canada Rejects Saskatchewan Hit-Man Murder Appeal

Supreme Court Of Canada Rejects Saskatchewan Hit-Man Murder Appeal
Joshua Dylan Petrin was a high-ranking drug trafficker when he asked two of his associates to "take care" of his right-hand man, who was planning to walk away from their criminal enterprise without his permission.

Supreme Court Of Canada Rejects Saskatchewan Hit-Man Murder Appeal

Former N.S. Mountie Sentenced To Decade In Prison For Theft, Cocaine Trafficking

Former N.S. Mountie Sentenced To Decade In Prison For Theft, Cocaine Trafficking
A former Nova Scotia Mountie has been sentenced to 10 years in a minimum security prison for stealing 10 kilograms of cocaine from an exhibit locker and arranging sales that earned him $100,000 in cash.

Former N.S. Mountie Sentenced To Decade In Prison For Theft, Cocaine Trafficking

Trudeau Announces $1.3 Billion In Federal Funding For Montreal Metro Extension

Trudeau Announces $1.3 Billion In Federal Funding For Montreal Metro Extension
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the federal government will invest $1.3 billion to help finance an extension of Montreal's metro system.  

Trudeau Announces $1.3 Billion In Federal Funding For Montreal Metro Extension

Man Found Not Responsible In Stabbing Of Priest At St. Joseph's Oratory

Man Found Not Responsible In Stabbing Of Priest At St. Joseph's Oratory
 A man charged with stabbing a Catholic priest during a mass that was being streamed online from Montreal's St. Joseph's Oratory in March has been found not criminally responsible.

Man Found Not Responsible In Stabbing Of Priest At St. Joseph's Oratory

'Everybody's Baby:' Police, Family Reflect On Disappearance Of Tamra Keepness

Retired police corporal Jim Pratt remembers standing on a road on the outskirts of Regina as a team of searchers walked through a yellow canola field.

'Everybody's Baby:' Police, Family Reflect On Disappearance Of Tamra Keepness

Trudeau Shoots Back At China's Claim It Is Being 'Naive' In Courting Allies

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that President Donald Trump made good on his pledge to raise the plight of the two Canadians imprisoned in China with President Xi Jinping.

Trudeau Shoots Back At China's Claim It Is Being 'Naive' In Courting Allies