Kitchener physician behind Twitter account distributing free rapid antigen tests

A Kitchener doctor is the founder of a newly launched Twitter account, @C19TestFinders, that is providing free access to COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to some of the country's most vulnerable people.

“The difficulty in being able to find publicly accessible rapid tests was the impetus for our Twitter account,” said Dr. Dalia Hasan, the founder of COVID Test Finders. “It started as an initiative to amplify where the public could easily access rapid tests, or testing centres, but I started receiving direct messages from people who are in high risk situations. They would ask me if I had any rapid tests to donate to them.”

So far, Dr. Hasan and her team have distributed over 1,000 COVID-19 rapid antigen tests Canada-wide to high-risk individuals, such as cancer patients, those who are immunocompromised, or those waiting for surgeries. Due to limited funding, her team is currently only offering free rapid tests to vulnerable individuals. 

“Luckily, I started receiving direct messages from generous people in the community, offering to give our account funds to purchase rapid tests,” added Dr. Hasan, who has a Masters degree in Health Promotion. “This came off the heels of 'Stay Safe' shutting down … and given the scarcity of availability of free tests, our account evolved to crowd sourcing rapid tests.”

The account is also using #FreeTheRATs, which is part of an online effort to push the provincial government to make rapid antigen tests free for all Ontarians. Currently in Ontario, free rapid antigen tests are available to businesses, and schools will be handing out five tests per student ahead of the holiday break. Dr. Hasan said while this part of the Ford government's plan is satisfactory, it, unfortunately, excludes a large part of the population. 

“Every household deserves to have these rapid tests. We're not protecting anyone, until we're protecting everyone,” said Dr. Hasan. “We need to be testing before school, before work, and before family gatherings.”

Rapid tests are available to purchase online, or at pharmacies, but for a hefty, out-of-pocket cost of $40, which is not feasible for many Ontarians. 

“There are more than 23 million unused rapid tests in Ontario,” confirmed Dr. Hasan. “They were federally funded, paid for by our tax dollars to safeguard this province from the affects of COVID … if the government is to do something meaningful, they need to harness all the public health tools we have at our disposal.”

Ontario's Science Advisory Table has said it plans to address the issue in the coming days.

In the meantime, the focus of Dr. Hasan's platform is three-fold.
1. To continue disseminating publicly accessible rapid tests and testing centre information
2. To advocate for equitable rapid test accessibility across the country, via the #FreeTheRATs movement
3. To crowd source rapid test donations and funds to distribute rapid tests to vulnerable groups

The team at COVID Test Finders has a pop-up planned for the week of December 18, which will distribute 100 rapid tests to the community. More details will be shared on Twitter – @C19TestFinders.

To donate to COVID Test Finders, click here