BALA, ONT. -- Chambers of Commerce in Orillia and Muskoka have inundated with calls from business owners eager to get their hands on rapid COVID-19 testing kits.
Together, the chambers have secured 100,000 kits for distribution to businesses with under 150 employees.
Norah Fountain, Executive Director of the Muskoka Lakes Chamber calls the kits game-changers.
"It means that you can make your workplaces safer. It's making you safer, your family safer. It's because you can catch infection basically before it starts," Fountain says.
The tests are designed to be simple to administer, with swabs only needing to be inserted 2 cm into a nostril for five seconds. Preliminary results are delivered within 15 minutes.
The owner of the Lakeside Bala restaurant says the kits could play an important role in its reopening.
"Our customers are coming from everywhere, and we want to make sure that our customers are protected," says Cassandra Ford. "The rapid test is a very good tool in the tool kit."
