We scaled up efforts at an extremely rapid pace, with close to 1,200 telehealth staff now servicing travellers. Within this federal program alone, we have administered over 600,000 tests for travellers entering Canada. We have identified over 6,400 positive cases of COVID-19, including over 2,200 second-test positives and 1,500 variants of concern. Because most of these individuals were at home when they took their test, the risk of community spread was greatly reduced.
Of course, we have experienced some growing pains, with the volume of demand for testing rising exponentially and sometimes causing delays in service. We have been working diligently to improve our operations and processes and the speed with which we deliver results, by adding more telehealth and customer service staff. For example, since introducing appointment times for telehealth sessions, the average wait time has been reduced to 10 to 15 minutes. Currently, over 99% of travellers, including those in rural and remote regions, receive their results on or before their 14th day of quarantine.
We are still adding new resources so we can better serve travellers in both official languages.
Although we've been hired to provide additional testing services for temporary foreign workers in Ontario only, we've been asked to intervene temporarily to assist in providing additional testing services for temporary foreign workers from Quebec.
Recognizing the importance of Canada's food security, we are honoured to provide assistance until a permanent solution is found. We are pleased to continue serving travellers from Quebec by supplying our Day-8 test kits.
Before I conclude, I want to take a moment to address last night's report on Global News. We're proud to employ over 1,100 nursing professionals. We also employ a small number of trained telehealth generalists, who are permitted to oversee this type of testing process. Any suggestion that Switch Health has ever instructed employees to identify themselves as a nurse when they are not is categorically false. We acknowledge the hard work of all medical professionals during this pandemic and have never instructed any of our staff to mislead the public.
Developing an innovative and accessible testing solution in Canada’s fight against COVID-19 is helping transform how health care is delivered. And with the pandemic having a disproportionate effect on women, we're proud that we're not only offering a flexible work experience for the majority of our employees, who are women, but also that we're a company with women in positions of origin and leadership.
Earlier this week, we were proud to announce our new chief medical officer, Dr. Gregory Taylor, who served our country as Canada's chief public health officer. We are proud to be at the forefront of protecting the health and safety of Canadians in one of the most challenging times in global history. We very much appreciate your support in doing so. Thank you, again, for this opportunity.
Thank you, everyone.