By Canadian Press

Mouth wash test coming for school-aged children in British Columbia

Sep 17, 2020 | 4:56 PM

VICTORIA — British Columbia is introducing a new saline gargle test for students from kindergarten to Grade 12 to help make it easier for children and teenagers to check whether they have COVID-19.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says British Columbia is one of the first places in the world to use a mouth rinse gargle test for the new coronavirus.

The province announced a record daily high of 165 new cases of COVID-19 today and one additional death, bringing the death toll to 220.

There has been a total of 7,663 cases of COVID-19 in the province.

Henry says getting tested is key in the fight against the pandemic and the test will make it easier to collect samples from young people.

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The test can be done without a health professional by parents or children themselves.

Private and public health officials have been touting various methods under consideration across the country for saliva-based COVID-19 tests as lines grow at assessment centres.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2020.

The Canadian Press