Lindsay Chamber to soon offer rapid COVID test kits to small businesses

The Lindsay + District Chamber of Commerce (LDCC) will soon be rolling out free rapid COVID tests for small and medium-sized businesses in Kawartha Lakes.

The program is helping small businesses keep their employees and families safe by curbing the spread of COVID-19 at work to help speed up the economic recovery.

The Ontario Chamber Network has supported the delivery of 2.4 million free rapid test kits in over 105 communities across the province through the COVID-19 Rapid Screening Initiative in partnership with the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Ontario and Canadian governments.

“Chambers of Commerce and boards of trade have been indispensable resources in their communities since the onset of the COVID-19 crisis. Public health and the health of our economy are interdependent. That is why the LDCC will be proud to distribute rapid tests to small businesses in Kawartha Lakes with the cooperation of all of the other Kawartha Lakes Area Chambers of Commerce, the Lindsay Business Improvement Association with the support of City of Kawartha Lakes Economic Development,” said Colleen Collins, executive director of the LDCC.

Collins says the screening kits are free to any business and you do not need to be a Chamber member to receive your kits.

“We hope that through this program, we will be able to curb the spread and reopen our local economy safely, making the Kawartha Lakes a safe place to spend the summer,” she added.

The COVID-19 Rapid Screening Initiative provides free rapid antigen tests for employees of small and medium-sized businesses. The tests are distributed through participating local chambers of commerce and boards of trade in Ontario. Businesses (including non-chamber members) with 150 employees or less are welcome to participate in this program. The goal of the program is to identify asymptomatic cases of COVID-19 in the workplace that might otherwise be missed, helping to curb the spread in the workplace, at home and around the community in our municipality.

The initiative builds upon the success of the program that was first successfully piloted in the Waterloo region by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo and Cambridge Chambers of Commerce in partnership with Communitech, the Government of Ontario and Government of Canada. Through this pilot, the chambers have delivered 300,000 kits to almost 3,000 businesses in that region.

“With vaccinations on the rise and case counts lowering, rapid testing is another critical part of curbing the spread of COVID-19, contributing to the safe reopening of our economy. As the indispensable partner of business, we are incredibly proud of the Ontario Chamber Network that has quickly mobilized to put free rapid screening kits into the hands of small businesses across Ontario,” said Rocco Rossi, president and CEO of the Ontario Chamber of Commerce.

Interested businesses can log into the LDCC website at www.lindsaychamber.com to order their two-week supply of rapid tests.  The kits have been ordered and will soon be ready for pick-up at the LDCC office at 180 Kent Street West, Lindsay

Click here to see which chambers and boards of trade are participating in the program to date. More chambers of commerce and boards of trade will be joining in the coming weeks.