Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

RAPID COVID TEST

Date

2021

Materials

PLASTIC, COTTON, PAPER

No. Pieces

46

Height

9.1

Length

19.9

Width

2.5

Description

.A: GREEN CARDBOARD BOX, 19.9 CM LONG X 9.1 CM TALL X 2.5 CM WIDE. IT HAS PRINTED LETTERING “RAPID RESPONSE” AT THE TOP IN GREEN, “COVID-19 ANTIGEN” UNDERNEATH IT IN WHITE, “RAPID TEST DEVICE: FOR THE DIRECT AND QUALITATIVE DETECTION OF SARS-COV-2 VIRAL NUCLEOPROTEIN ANTIGENS. FOR IN VITRO DIAGNOSTIC USE ONLY” UNDER IT IN BLACK INK. .B-R: SIX GREEN, PLASTIC BAGS (12.2CM X 6CM) TORN OPEN, ONE MISSING TORN TOP, CONTAINING A WHITE RAPID RESPONSE TEST DEVICE. THE PACKAGE HAS GREEN LETTERING (7.1 CM X 2.2 CM X .6CM ). A HUMIDITY BAG IS IN EACH PACKAGE, EXCEPT ONE THAT IS MISSING (3.5CM X 1.7CM) .S: A WHITE TUBE STAND OF 9.1 CM LONG X 5.4 CM TALL X 1.1 CM WIDE .T-Y: SIX EXTRACTION BUFFER WITH A NOZZLE EACH (5.9 CM TALL X 1.3 CM DIAMETER) .Z-AC: FOUR PLASTIC NOZZLE PACKAGES, LIDS TORN OFF (4CM X 1 CM) .AD-AF: THREE PLASTIC NOZZLE PACKAGE LIDS (1 CM X 1.1 CM) .AG-AR: SIX OPEN PLASTIC AND WHITE PAPER, WITH GREEN LETTERING PACKAGES (20.1 CM X 3.3 CM) WITH ONE COTTON SWAB EACH (15.3 CM) .AS: VINYL PAPER PRODUCT INSERT OF 30.1 CM LONG X 38.1 CM TALL .AT: CARDBOARD PROCEDURE CARD OF 15.1 CM LONG X 8.1 CM TALL

Subjects

MEDICAL & DENTAL T&E

Historical Association

HEALTH SERVICES

History

DURING THE PERIOD OF MARCH 2020 TO DECEMBER 2021, ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES WAS THE PROVIDER OF TESTING FOR COVID-19 WITHIN THE PROVINCE. HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS ADMINISTERED BOTH POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) TESTS AND RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS (RATS). PCR TESTS WERE RESERVED FOR THE VULNERABLE AND HIGH RISK POPULATIONS. ON DECEMBER 17, 2021, ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES DISTRIBUTED FREE RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS ON A FIRST-COME FIRST-SERVED BASIS WHILE QUANTITIES LASTED TO ALBERTA RESIDENTS. THERE WAS A LIMIT OF ONE BOX PER PERSON WITHIN FOURTEEN DAYS. THESE TESTS WERE USED TO DETECT PRE-SYMPTOMATIC AND ASYMPTOMATIC CASES OF COVID-19 AND CONFIRM COVID-19 SYMPTOMS BY SWABBING THE NOSE AND/ OR THROAT. THE RESULTS WOULD BE PRODUCED IN FIFTEEN MINUTES. THESE AT-HOME, RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS (RATS) WERE AN ALTERNATIVE POINT-OF-CARE (POC) TEST TO BE USED BY THE GENERAL PUBLIC. IN DECEMBER 2021 THE GALT MUSEUM ISSUED A CALL OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA REQUESTING PEOPLE TO CONTACT THE MUSEUM IF THEY PLANNED TO USE A RAPID COVID TESTING KIT OVER THE HOLIDAY. VANESSA AND JESSE AMOS CONTACTED THE MUSEUM AND DONATED A USED KIT THEY HAD. ON FEBRUARY 3RD, 2022 COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN KEVIN MACLEAN INTERVIEWED VANESSA AND JESSE AMOS REGARDING THE USE OF THEIR FREELY DISTRIBUTED RAPID COVID TESTING KIT. WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR MOTIVATIONS TO DONATE THE KIT, VANESSA ANSWERED: “WE [WERE] JUST GOING TO THROW IT OUT AFTER WE USE THEM ANYWAY, SO WHY NOT SAVE IT FOR FUTURE INFORMATION?” WHEN ASKED ABOUT THEIR KNOWLEDGE OF THE RAPID COVID TESTS BEING RELEASED AT THE TIME THEY RECEIVED THEM, VANESSA ANSWERED: “WHEN IT WAS ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WERE GOING TO BE DISTRIBUTED I HAD TO LOOK UP TO FIGURE WHERE WE WERE GOING TO GO…IN LETHBRIDGE THERE WAS ONLY ONE LOCATION TO PICK UP [AND] I DECIDED OKAY, WE SHOULD PROBABLY GET THESE WITH CHRISTMAS COMING UP...WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE WE DIDN’T HAVE COVID AND DIDN’T REALIZE IT. WE’RE BOTH DOUBLE VACCINATED SO WE THOUGHT FROM THE SOUNDS OF IT IF YOU’VE GOT COVID AND YOU BEEN VACCINATED IT MIGHT JUST BE A COLD, YOU MIGHT NOT EVEN NOTICE THAT YOU WERE SICK. WE WANTED TO MAKE SURE IF WE WERE SEEING OUR PARENTS THAT WE ACTUALLY GOT TESTS JUST TO MAKE SURE WE WEREN’T CARRYING THE VIRUS.” VANESSA CONTINUED: “TO ACTUALLY GET THE TEST WAS ACTUALLY DIFFICULT. THE FIRST SHIPMENT TO LETHBRIDGE [WAS] ABOUT FOUR HUNDRED [KITS]. THE HEALTH UNIT WAS OPEN, I BELIEVE AT 8 O’ CLOCK, I USUALLY DRIVE THERE BY AROUND EIGHT THIRTY AND I THOUGHT WHY NOT JUST SWING IN AND DOUBLE CHECK, AND SURE ENOUGH THEY WERE ALL OUT. THEY HAD A LINEUP [EARLIER] THAT DAY AND I THINK IT WAS VERY COLD OUT… I DIDN’T HAVE A CHANCE OF GETTING ANY AND THEN I HAPPENED TO NOTICE ON … [THE] AHS TWITTER FEED AND THEY SAID THEY WOULD TELL YOU WHEN THERE WERE SHIPMENTS COMING IN. SO AS SOON AS THERE WAS A SHIPMENT AT THE HEALTH UNIT, I HEARD IT WAS COMING IN THAT DAY, AND I THINK IT [WAS] NOT KNOWN ABOUT THAT TWITTER NOTICE. I WORK DOWNTOWN, SO THAT DAY I’M GOING TO WALK DOWN THERE TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY AND THEY DID. I WAS ABLE TO GET A COUPLE OF TESTS, AND I WAS PRETTY HAPPY ABOUT THAT JUST TO MAKE SURE WE HAD THAT EXTRA, EXTRA PROTECTION SLIGHTLY.” ON DECEMBER 17TH, 2021 THE SOUTHZONE TWITTER FOR ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES (@AHS_SOUTHZONE) POSTED ON TWITTER: “DUE TO VERY HIGH DEMAND, AHS SITES IN LETHBRIDGE, MEDICINE HAT, PINCHER CREEK AND COALDALE HAVE RUN OUT OF FREE COVID-19 RAPID TEST KITS. MORE WILL BE AVAILABLE NEXT WEEK 1 / 2”, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AND EFFORTS TO HELP PROTECT YOUR COMMUNITY. OVER 400 KITS WERE HANDED OUT IN EACH COMMUNITY TODAY 2 / 2” THE FOLLOWING DAY, ON DECEMBER 18TH, 2021, THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD WROTE A COLUMN STATING: 'RAPID TESTS SNAPPED UP IN UNDER 10 MINUTES…BY MOST ACCOUNTS, ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICE HAD RUN OUT OF THE 400 KITS THEY HAD AVAILABLE IN LESS THAN 10 MINUTES AFTER DISTRIBUTION COMMENCED AT 8AM, AND MANY HOPING TO SECURE THE FREE KITS TOOK TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO EXPRESS THEIR FRUSTRATION. VARIOUS TWITTER POSTS SUGGESTED SOME CITIZENS HAD LINED UP AT THE LOCAL HEALTH UNIT AS EARLY AS 7 A.M. TO ENSURE THEY RECEIVED SOME TEST KITS.' LATER, ON DECEMBER 20TH, 2021 ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICE (@AHS_SOUTHZONE) ON TWITTER POSTED: “COVID-19 HOME TEST KITS FROM ALBERTA HEALTH HAVE ARRIVED AT THE TRAIN STATION COMMUNITY HEALTH SITE IN LETHBRIDGE. DELIVERY IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY IN MEDICINE HAT AND AT RURAL SITES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE.” VANESSA RECALLED HER EXPERIENCE PICKING UP THE KITS, “I SHOWED UP TO THE HEALTH UNIT. I HAD MY CARDS READY, I HAD ASSUMED YOU’D HAVE TO SHOW YOUR ALBERTA HEALTH CARD. I KNEW THAT YOU WERE ALLOWED TO TAKE ONE FOR YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS IF YOU HAD THEIR HEALTH CARE CARDS, SO I HAD MY SON’S WITH ME. I DIDN’T HAVE MY HUSBAND’S, BUT I DO KNOW THE NUMBERS SO I HAD THOSE READY JUST IN CASE THEY ASKED, BUT THEY ACTUALLY WERE JUST HANDING THEM OUT, JUST ASKING HOW MANY FAMILY MEMBERS YOU HAD. I THINK THEY WERE JUST TAKING PEOPLE AT THEIR WORD, JUST HANDING THEM OUT AT THAT POINT. THEY HAD A FEW BOXES AND IT WAS A QUICK IN AND OUT, NOT A LINEUP, DIDN’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT IT BEING CROWDED WHICH WAS HANDY SO IT WENT BY REALLY QUICKLY.” ON JANUARY 5TH, 2022, BRIAN HANCOCK WROTE AN ARTICLE FOR THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD: ‘HOARDERS FOR RAPID COVID TEST SHOULD FACE PUNISHMENT’, EXPRESSING HIS, AND OTHERS DISCONTENT WITH THE DISTRIBUTION METHOD EMPLOYED BY ALBERTA HEALTH SERVICES. BRIAN CONTINUES: ‘COULD THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM HAVE BEEN SET UP BETTER? ABSOLUTELY. IT WAS LEFT TO THE HONOUR SYSTEM FOR PEOPLE TO SAY HOW MANY RESIDENTS ARE IN THEIR HOUSEHOLD. HEALTH CARE NUMBERS WERE NOT RECORDED SO THE SAME PEOPLE COULD GO BACK AGAIN AND GET MORE TESTS.’ HE ADDED: ‘THERE ARE NUMEROUS STORIES OF PEOPLE CLAIMING TO HAVE FOUR, FIVE OR EVEN SIX PEOPLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD WHEN IN FACT THERE ARE ONLY ONE OR TWO. THEY WALK OUT THE DOOR WITH MULTIPLE TEST KITS IN HAND TELLING THEMSELVES ‘I’M SAFE NOW’ WHEN IN FACT, ALL THEY HAVE DONE IS ASSURE THE SPREAD OF COVID TO OTHERS WHO DON’T HAVE RAPID TESTS AND ARE FORCED TO LEAVE THEIR HOMES TO TEST, OR WORSE YET, THINK THEY ONLY HAVE A COLD AND MINGLE WITH OTHERS WHEN A RAPID TEST WOULD HAVE TOLD THEM TO ISOLATE.’ GIVEN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, VANESSA AND JESSE AMOS WERE ASKED WHAT THE KITS REPRESENTED TO THEM, VANESSA RESPONDED: “WELL, [THE KITS] WERE JUST AN EXTRA PEACE OF MIND FOR SURE BECAUSE IF I FLASHBACK TO DECEMBER 2020 WE WERE ACTUALLY IN QUARANTINE SO THERE WAS A CLOSE CONTACT AT MY SON’S SCHOOL AND SO FOR THAT CHRISTMAS WE WERE IN QUARANTINE SO IT WAS A CHRISTMAS WITH JUST THE THREE OF US. THEN, GOING FORWARD TO 2021 THIS WAS A PEACE OF MIND THAT SOME THINGS WERE CHANGING AND IT WAS AT LEAST SOMETHING WE’D ALL BEEN VACCINATED AND OR AT LEAST MY SON HAD THE FIRST VAX.” WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE SPECIFIC USE OF THE RAPID COVID TESTS, VANESSA RECALLED, “I THINK THE FIRST TWO WERE USED FAIRLY SOON AFTER WE GOT THE BOX, KIND OF JUST AS I WAS CURIOUS HOW IT WAS GOING TO WORK SO I WANTED TO TRY IT OUT JUST TO SEE HOW EASY IT WAS GOING TO BE FOR MY SON, AND I JUST, WANTED TO SEE, HOW DOES THIS WORK, FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS, I ACTUALLY WATCHED A VIDEO.” VANESSA AND JESSE THEN REMEMBERED THE OTHER THREE TESTS WERE USED LEADING UP TO CHRISTMAS, BECAUSE THEY WERE REUNITING WITH FAMILY FOR THE HOLIDAYS. THEY RECALLED GIVING A BOX TO A FRIEND THAT WAS NOT ABLE TO GET A TEST KIT YET, AND WAS IN NEED OF IT. REGARDING THEIR THOUGHTS ON THE TEST KITS AROUND THE TIME OF THE INTERVIEW (FEBRUARY 3RD, 2022), THEY AGREED THEY USED THE KITS WHEN THEY NEEDED THEM. VANESSA REPLIED: “RIGHT NOW, IT’S DIFFICULT, WE HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS THAT HAVE COVID RIGHT NOW AND SO A LOT OF JESSE’S OFFICE RIGHT NOW … CAN’T COME IN, [COVID HAS] NOT GONE AWAY. I HAVE MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT IT.” JESSE ADDED, “JUST TWO WEEKS AGO, ONE OF MY COLLEAGUE’S HOUSE MEMBERS TESTED POSITIVE ON ONE OF THE RAPID TESTS. [THEY] USED THE RAPID TEST, IT WAS NEGATIVE. [THEY] STARTED GETTING COLD SYMPTOMS, DID ANOTHER RAPID TEST, STILL NEGATIVE. SINCE WE DO A LOT OF CONTRACT WORK FOR A GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATION, WE WERE ABLE TO GET [THEM] IN TO GET A PCR TEST WHICH IS FAIRLY DIFFICULT AT THIS POINT. THEY TESTED POSITIVE, WHICH WAS KIND OF THE FIRST TIME WE, IN MY EXPERIENCE, MAYBE CAST SOME DOUBT ON THE EFFICACY OF THE RAPID TESTS, AND THEY HAD WORKED WITH ONE OF OUR OTHER EMPLOYEES FOR A DAY. THE EMPLOYEE STARTED SHOWING SYMPTOMS ABOUT THREE OR FOUR DAYS LATER. THEY DID A RAPID TEST, IT WAS POSITIVE AND NOW JUST THIS MORNING I GOT WORD THAT TWO MORE PEOPLE IN OUR OFFICE HAVE TESTED POSITIVE SO AT THE MOMENT I’M FAIRLY STRESSED ABOUT THE WHOLE SITUATION. I DON’T HAVE A FAIRLY HIGH CONFIDENCE ON THE RAPID TEST AT THE MOMENT BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THE PEOPLE THAT TESTED POSITIVE IT’S ON THEIR THIRD OR FOURTH RAPID TEST AFTER HAVING SYMPTOMS, SO THEY DON’T SEEM TO BE TERRIBLY EFFECTIVE.” ON JANUARY 11TH, 2022, DEAN BENNETT WROTE AN ARTICLE FOR THE LETHBRIDGE HERALD, STATING: “ALBERTA TOPS 57,000 ACTIVE COVID CASES: HINSHAW SAYS NUMBER LIKELY 10 TIMES HIGHER”. HE STATED THAT ALBERTA’S CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER OF HEALTH SAYS THE MORE THAN 57,000 ACTIVE CASES OF COVID-19 IN THE PROVINCE ARE A TINY FRACTION OF THE TRUE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS, SHE REPORTEDLY SAID ‘WE SHOULD ASSUME AT THAT MINIMUM WE’RE SEEING ABOUT 10 TIMES OR MORE THAN THE NUMBER OF CASES THAT WE’RE DIAGNOSING THROUGH PCR TESTS.’” IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE THAT GUIDELINES AND RESTRICTIONS WERE CONSTANTLY CHANGING SURROUNDING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC. THE INFORMATION ABOVE REFLECTS THE RESTRICTIONS AS OF DECEMBER 2021.

Catalogue Number

P20220003000

Acquisition Date

2022-02

Collection

Museum

Less detail