Mr. Speaker, testing is a critical part of Canada's response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and rapid tests are a key tool in our government's testing and screening strategy.
Early in the pandemic, our government put into place mechanisms to allow Health Canada to carry out expedited reviews of testing devices through the interim order respecting the importation and sale of medical devices for use in relation to COVID-19. Health Canada regulatory scientists are working around the clock to give Canadians, and our health care system, access to as many testing options as possible, as quickly as possible, without compromising safety. Canada has one of the best regulatory systems for medical devices in the world. Health Canada takes steps to ensure that the safety, efficacy and quality requirements for medical devices are met before granting an authorization.
Health Canada is currently reviewing applications for authorization for rapid testing screening tests and will continue to prioritize innovative new screening tools. The department has also assigned more reviewers to the task to speed up the review process, and has published service standards. Our government follows new technologies closely and, when we hear of promising new tests that are not yet available in Canada, we get proactive and we reach out to manufacturers to find out if they are interested in entering the Canadian market. Since March, Health Canada has authorized 41 tests under the interim order, including both PCR and rapid tests. We have also been working hard, at home and abroad, to secure the necessary equipment and supplies, including tests, to support the COVID-19 response.
Our government is working hand in hand with the provinces and territories to ramp up testing capacity. We have provided provinces and territories with $4.28 billion to support them with the costs of increasing their capacity to conduct testing, to perform contact tracing and to share public health data that will help fight this pandemic.
In addition, we always base our decisions on scientific facts. In early October, the Government of Canada, working with provinces and territories, released a series of policy briefs that build on lessons learned and take into account new screening technologies. Based on a solid foundation of the most recent scientific knowledge and data in public health, the following guidance documents have been prepared or updated: Pan-Canadian COVID-19 Testing and Screening Guidance, interim guidance on the use of rapid antigen detection tests, and the updated guidance document on indications for PCR testing.
PCR tests remain the gold standard for diagnosing COVID-19. However, we recognize the arrival of new screening technologies in an evolving environment that offer complementary tools to PCR tests. For example, the new guidelines describe how antigen testing can be useful in routine outbreak surveillance as well as surveillance in high-risk settings, such as long-term care facilities and, of course, in rural and remote communities. Getting results quickly allows health care professionals to target and respond to new outbreaks by isolating sick people and initiating contact tracing, which helps reduce the spread of the disease.
We have recognized the value of rapid tests since the beginning of our pandemic response. That is why we signed agreements with Inter Medico to supply 1.2 million GeneXpert rapid tests and with Biomérieux Canada to supply almost 700,000 diagnostic test kits. More recently, as we heard through the House, on September 29 and October 6, our government signed agreements to buy two rapid tests from Abbott Diagnostics: up to 7.9 million ID NOW rapid point-of-care tests, and 20.5 million PanBio COVID-19 antigen rapid tests, to go to provinces and territories at no cost to them. Thousands of these tests will be in the hands of provinces and territories soon, and hundreds of thousands more will follow in the weeks to come.
We are making every effort to continue to buy and distribute rapid tests as soon as they are authorized, and this will contribute to our efforts to protect Canadians from COVID-19, which, of course, is our government's top priority.