THUNDER BAY - As the demand for COVID-19 tests continues to grow in the city, health care officials are hopeful a new assessment centre specifically setup for the education sector will help clear the backlog in testing and reduce wait times.
“There are several aspects this is going to help,” said Dr. Peter Voros, COVID-19 incident operations section head with the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre. “We are getting up to 1,000 calls a day. Managing that volume of people calling in to book their appointment is incredibly difficult.”
The new assessment centre will be located at Confederation College in the Sibley Hall Residence activity room.
Testing will begin on Monday, Oct. 5 and the centre will be open from Monday to Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. with a limit of 150 clients per day. Once testing capacity has been reached, alerts will be posted to social media and the TBRHSC website.
The centre will operate through walk-in appointments, meaning those who visit the centre will be given an appointment in person and will either get a test immediately, or be asked to return that day.
“With this being a walk-in, those families won’t need to be calling and waiting online,” Voros said. “It should have a huge impact on families and staff to just walk in and get tested like that. Everybody can get tested on the day they need to get tested as opposed to waiting.”
Only those who are symptomatic can access the site for testing and it will be available to students, parents or siblings, teachers, and other school personnel such as bus drivers.
“I think this additional location for assessment and testing is really important,” said Dr. Janet DeMille medical officer of health with the Thunder Bay District Health Unit. “We know there has been a significant demand for testing in Thunder Bay and surrounding communities. This is another place people can come and get tested.”
Voros said by specifically testing those in the education community, the hope is to alleviate some of the backlog and cut down on wait times for families.
“The volume at the primary assessment centre won’t change,” he said. “We roughly do 150 a day. What is happening is EMS is pushing beyond what they are really able to do to take care of the kids. So we are sitting with a huge backlog of kids who need testing. We can relieve EMS to actually focus on the kids who are very young.”
Officials with two of the city’s school boards welcome the new assessment centre for those in the education community.
“Going home sick has taken on a whole new meaning this year and I am thankful for an additional assessment centre to help expedite testing,” said Ian MacRae, director of education with the Lakehead Public School Board.
“This support to our educational community will inevitably provide for students, guardians, and staff and contribute significant to student success and well-being. Student health and safety continues to be of utmost importance during these challenging times.”
The Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board director of education, Pino Tassone, added that students, families, and staff are very fortunate to have this assessment centre.
“The additional assessment centre will provide a further layer of safety for our students, but it will also play a vital role for our parents, bus drivers, educators, and board staff,” he said. “Not only will this system improve attendance for our learners, it will expedite testing, wait times for staff, ensuring a safe return to work.”
The provincial government recently changed its criteria for students requiring a COVID-19 test who are exhibiting symptoms.
With this change, Voros expects the demand for testing will continue to be higher compared to the summer, but lower than the numbers experienced in September.
Voros added that he is hopeful the backlog in testing can be dealt with in the next week.
“It really depends on how much work EMS can do and more drive-through testing they are trying to do,” he said. “I am hopeful with the changing criteria, we already have parents calling in and cancelling, saying their child no longer needs to be tested. So with that, this centre, EMS, and the primary centre, I am hoping to clear that backlog in a week or so.”
“If rates stay the same and illnesses stay the same, once we clear up that backlog, we should be efficient to swab everyone we need to,” Voros added. “If rates increase and illness increase we will need more.”
