Evidence of meeting #8 for Transport, Infrastructure and Communities in the 43rd Parliament, 2nd session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was measures.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Vice President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I am confident in saying that the Public Health Agency would have been consulted and would have been part of discussions but not being in a position to approve final decisions on what was being done. Certainly, we talk to Transport Canada, and Transport Canada contacts us regularly on these types of issues.
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Okay. Thank you.
If I understand it from the previous answers, the reasoning for airlines being exempt from those social distancing measures is really around the ventilation systems on the aircraft. Is that correct?
Vice President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Airlines are not exempt from social distancing. What I would say is that there are a number of reasons why air transportation is still a major requirement for Canadians and why it is important to maintain some travel. On an airplane, it's very difficult to do social distancing, but certainly we are of the view that with the current practices we have seen, when you take into account the series of measures within the airport—getting on the plane, and getting off it—all of those measures put together make the risk low, in our view.
NDP
Taylor Bachrach NDP Skeena—Bulkley Valley, BC
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I'll move on to the topic of rapid tests, which I know are of great interest to a lot of members. Do these rapid tests have the same rate of accuracy as the standard PCR tests that are being used in Canada?
Vice President, Health Security Infrastructure Branch, Public Health Agency of Canada
Thank you.
Monique Frison will take that question.
Acting Assistant Deputy Minister, Programs and Implementation, Department of Health
Thank you, Chair.
It depends on the test, both for the rapid test and the PCR test. A PCR lab-based test can have a very high performance rate for sensitivity and specificity. Antigen tests can, too. Health Canada has issued guidance that it wouldn't consider or approve rapid tests unless they had at least an 80% sensitivity rate, for example.
Usually the rapid tests don't necessarily perform, on average, as well as lab-based gold standard tests, but the other performance characteristics of them, including the ease of use, can sometimes compensate.
Like I said in my opening remarks, it depends on the situation that you want to test or screen. It depends on what you're using that result for.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Vance Badawey
Thank you, Ms. Frison, Mr. Bachrach and Ms. Diogo.
Members of committee, it's 5:35 and we have to adjourn this meeting due to the fact that others will be meeting and need resources for their committees.
With that, I want to thank you. I want to congratulate you, as well. It was a great meeting. There were a lot of good questions for all of the witnesses.
To the witnesses, thank you for your participation.
With that, I will adjourn today's meeting.