Windsor Regional Hospital can now rapid test up to 200 people a week for COVID-19.
Results can come back within one hour.
The province is picking up the tab for GeneXpert, but the Windsor Regional Hospital Foundation is seeking donations to support the purchase.
The tests will be used on inpatients, and to screen critical and emergency patients.
The hospital is limited to just those patients because of an international supply shortage. That means the rapid tests will not be used for mass testing.
Windsor Regional Hospital regularly tests up to 750 people a day at its two COVID-19 assessment centres at the Ouellette and Met Campuses.
The new rapid testing will allow for better bed allocation, an issue that has become more important in recent weeks with the rising number of cases in local hospitals. It will cut the risk of mixing COVID-19 positive patients with others, how long it decides to decide which unit to transfer patients to, and better manage the use of personal protective equipment.
The instrument can also be used to test for Influenza A, B, RSV, and other respiratory viruses.
