Sask. Workers' Comp. not accepting rapid test results, requiring PCR tests for COVID-19 claims
The Saskatchewan Workers' Compensation Board (WCB) said it will not accept rapid test results for claims relating to COVID-19, and will continue to require a PCR test.
The WCB said that work-related COVID-19 claims are accepted if there is a "confirmed link between the worker's exposure and their employment" as long as certain conditions are met.
"We would want to confirm that exposure to the disease in the workplace, and we’d be looking for a reasonable time period to pass from when COVID is contracted and when they’re in the workplace," said Jennifer Norleen-Beitel, the WCB's vice president of operations.
Generally, if the WCB considers transmission of a communicable disease like COVID-19 to be work related the compensability will be made on the basis of a "known medical diagnosis provided in a medical report."
"We would require an actual PCR test in order to confirm that diagnosis. From an insurance standpoint, we need to have one in place," said Norleen-Beitel. "It’s no different than any other injury that we would be looking for, we’d be looking for medical confirmation of an injury."
"The WCB has not been accepting rapid test results, as there is no way to obtain a medical report confirming these results," the statement reads.
The province announced on Dec. 30 it was no longer recommending asymptomatic residents who test positive on a COVID-19 rapid test to confirm results with a PCR test.
At Thursday's update, provincial officials said meetings are set to be held with labour standards with a clear response to the requirement to follow in the near future.
The Saskatchewan Federation of Labour encourages anyone missing work due to COVID-19 to get a PCR test but noted testing access is becoming a problem as shown by long lineups at test sites in Regina and Saskatoon in recent days.
"They’re not accessible, nearly as accessible as they need to be. If you live in any remote community or even in the city we’re seeing the lineups are just atrocious," said SFL President Lori Johb.
"The truth is this is just one more thing the Sask. Party didn't think about as they were going down a road of let's reduce testing, let's reduce numbers so that people think this isn't as big of a deal as it is," said NDP Leader Ryan Meili.
Johb noted a lack of access to paid sick leave is another source of concern for the federation as the Omicron variant continues to spread in Saskatchewan.
“They’re not going to bother with the test because they realize if they test positive they’re not going to get paid. So that is also a huge detriment," Johb said.
According to the WCB, 1,313 COVID-19 claims were filed between January 2021 and Nov 5, 2021. Of those, 954 were accepted.
The number of claims is expected to rise with the spread of Omicron but it's unclear how many will see people miss significant time from work.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.