News

May 21, 2021

Rapid Antigen Screening Kits now available to Burlington businesses

May 21, 2021 – Burlington, ON –The Burlington Chamber of Commerce and its partners at Burlington Economic Development and the City of Burlington are pleased to provide free COVID-19 Rapid Antigen Screening Kits to small and medium-sized businesses in Burlington as part of the COVID-19 Rapid Screening Initiative. This initiative was launched by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, as well as the provincial and federal governments. The rapid test kits will be available to businesses with less than 150 employees in Burlington at no cost. The goal of the program is to identify asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic individuals to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the workplace and throughout the community.

Supported by Team Burlington, the Burlington Chamber of Commerce and Burlington Economic Development have partnered with the City of Burlington to ensure that a safe and seamless testing program can be made available to interested businesses. The Rapid Antigen Screening program launches Wednesday, May 26, and will provide vital support to the Burlington business community. These rapid tests paired with existing health and safety measures will give businesses an added layer of support as they navigate COVID-19.

The kits will be available for pick-up, by appointment only. The tests will be administered by a representative of each participating company who will be responsible for supervising the self-screening process. If a test comes back positive, that employee is required to immediately leave the workplace and notify public health to arrange for a PCR Test and await further instructions from Halton Region Public Health.  

QUOTES

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward

“Rapid Antigen Screening is another key way we can help keep businesses open and support other local shops in their re-opening. It’s critical that we use every tool we have to stop the spread of COVID-19 and rapid testing can help catch cases before they have time to spread in our community. Health and safety is our top priority and this screening program will benefit our local businesses, their employees and customers, and our community at large.”

Carla Y. Nell, President & CEO, Burlington Chamber of Commerce

“The Burlington Chamber of Commerce is so pleased to be able to launch the Rapid Antigen Screening program in Burlington. This is an important tool that Burlington businesses can use to help detect and slow the spread of COVID-19, which is key to our economic recovery. We’re so grateful to our Team Burlington partners who have stepped up to assist pulling this program together to make it a reality for Burlington businesses.”

Anita Cassidy, Executive Director, Burlington Economic Development

“Team Burlington’s goal has always been to support our business community in any way we can. Our business community have been asking for rapid tests and we are excited to be rolling out this program in Burlington. Our partners at the City of Burlington, including Mayor Meed Ward and Council, have been huge cheerleaders for this initiative fully supporting its facilitation from start to finish. Keeping business open safely will help Burlington get on the path to economic recovery faster.”