Today (June 25), Tyler Shandro, Alberta’s Health Minister, announced another expansion of Alberta’s COVID-19 testing capacity. 

Starting soon, people without COVID-19 symptoms will be able to get tested in community pharmacies by throat swab. They will start with 20 locations, mostly in Edmonton and Calgary, to make sure the system is working before expanding to the rest of the province. 

“Alberta is a world leader in testing, and this will further expand our capacity. By gradually expanding COVID-19 testing in community pharmacies, we continue to put safety first as we reopen the economy and get Albertans back to work. This is a key part of Alberta's relaunch strategy and will help us continue protecting Albertans from this virus.” 

Shandro says that this will not be replacing current testing, and if a person has been exposed to the virus or is experiencing, they should not go into their pharmacy, but still arrange for testing online.  

Officials continue to encourage all Albertans to be tested even if they don’t have symptoms.