Canada’s health minister has signed an interim order to speed up access to COVID-19 test kits to help identify new cases of the novel coronavirus.
Health Canada said in a statement Wednesday that the order signed by Patty Hajdu will help expedite the arrival of two new diagnostic tests to allow labs to speed up testing.
Those test kits, made by Roche Molecular Systems and ThermoFisher Scientific — both based in the U.S. — were approved for use by the federal government earlier Wednesday.
It will also ensure Canadian access to other COVID-19-related medical devices “used to treat, mitigate or prevent COVID-19, if necessary,” Health Canada added. “COVID-19 is a rapidly evolving global health crisis, and we have been working around the clock
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