The group representing B.C.’s 28,000 care home workers is calling for mass testing of residents and staff at facilities where someone tests positive for COVID-19.

SafeCare BC CEO Jennifer Lyle says that is already a practice in Alberta and Ontario – and she says it would help add another layer of protection for both residents and staff.

“We’ve actually had examples here in the Lower Mainland where we’ve had outbreaks where they’ve implemented a mass testing strategy and they’ve actually been able to pick up cases that were otherwise missed or the symptoms were so mild that people didn’t realize they were ill – they were asymptomatic until they got tested,” she said.

“What we’re asking for is that sort of a more general approach to how we manage outbreaks especially as we go deeper into this pandemic.”

Speaking on the NL Noon Report, she says mass testing isn’t perfect – but it would help catch outbreaks early – and lower the death rate. As it stands, about 70-per cent of BC’s COVID-19 deaths have been in care homes.

“We know that there are challenges with testing early on. We know that the efficacy of some of these tests goes down the earlier on you get it in the incubation period and that might be where the role of rapid-testing, antigen testing might come into play instead as that sort of proactive screening measure,” she added.

In most cases it is a staff member that gets sick first – before it spreads to vulnerable elderly residents.

Lyle says the development of rapid testing options offers more of an opportunity to test people at the point-of-entry into care homes in British Columbia.