Alberta Health Services is joining with Spartan Bioscience to come up with handheld testing devices for COVID-19 in rural and remote communities.

Spartan Bioscience, a Canadian technology company, is in the late stages of developing a handheld, rapid-testing device which can confirm test results for the virus in less than one hour.

The devices have not yet been approved by Health Canada that's expected to happen in the next few weeks.

AHS will test the kits before deploying them but acted quickly to ensure they have the test kits once they are approved.

As part of the $9.5-million contract, AHS will receive 250 handheld devices, along with 100,000 testing kits, to be distributed to healthcare facilities outside of Calgary and Edmonton.

The company issued a news release Monday.

“Spartan is honoured to partner with the Province of Alberta and Alberta Health Services in the COVID-19 response,” says Dr Paul Lem, CEO of Spartan Bioscience Inc. “We think portable, rapid COVID-19 molecular testing will be important to help stop the pandemic. It is gratifying to see a made-in-Canada solution helping Canadians and is critical to Canada's response.”

The first shipment of devices and testing kits arrives next month.