Drive-thru testing eyed as tactic to deal with surge
New plan to deal with the recent increase in demand may include drive-thru option
There will soon be a “renewed, improved” COVID-19 testing strategy, Ottawa’s chief medical officer of health Dr. Vera Etches said this week, with a surge in demand at the city’s three assessment centres and “unsustainable” wait times.
That strategy could include drive-thru testing, according to several sources who said there have been discussions around the concept as part of the city’s longterm strategy, as coordinated by the Champlain Health Regional Incident Command.
“Together with Ottawa Public Health and Ontario Health, the focus of the region is to expand our capacity as quickly as possible to support the increased demand,” said the Champlain COVID-19 response committee in an email Friday.
“Through increased staffing, hours of operation and planning for additional sites, the region continues to adjust the operation to accommodate the increasing demand. We are exploring a number of options to enhance the testing options for our community, and will share more information on this as soon as we can.”
A drive-thru testing facility was briefly implemented as a shortterm measure for one day in March at the Queensway Carleton Hospital to deal with a backlog of 70 patients that had been identified for assessment by Ottawa Public Health. At that time the city had only two confirmed coronavirus cases.
“The plan for testing is going to shift,” Etches said during a news conference this week when asked about long wait times and a surge in demand at the city’s three main assessment centres. “It’s going to be a strategy that works for the long run. The long wait times outside are not sustainable, and that will change.”
Wait times between three and four hours were reported this week as assessment centres saw a surge in demand at Brewer arena, Heron Road and Moodie Drive facilities.
“The volume has continued to go up over these last couple of weeks, and significantly,” Etches said. “The demand for testing has grown repeatedly over the course of this pandemic with the change in different policies from the provincial government,” and a recent spike in demand related to testing requirements for those visiting retirement homes and long-term care facilities.
“We had a jump in the demand and in the volume that needed to be addressed,” Etches said. “However, that requirement is now only for indoor visits, it’s not required any more for outdoor visits, so that should help.”
During the week of July 20 to 24, when the city was also seeing a spike in positive coronavirus cases, hospital staff processed more than 1,400 patients each weekday at the three assessment centres, according to data tracked by Ottawa Public Health.
On Monday, July 20 there were 691 tests conducted at The Ottawa Hospital’s facility at Brewer Arena, 435 tests at the Queensway-Carleton’s Moodie Drive facility, and 315 tests at the Montfort Hospital’s Heron Road facility, a total of 1,441 patients tested.
On July 21 there were 1,536 patients tested at the three facilities; 1,570 on July 22; 1,554 on July 23; and 1,494 on July 24.
Etches on Thursday gave credit to hospital staff operating the centres.
“They are adding capacity, absolutely, they just aren’t keeping up because the demand keeps growing,” Etches said. “I know they’re working hard, making efficiencies and constantly looking at how they can serve more people. They have been hiring staff, and they are looking at other options for different ways of doing things.”
Etches said demand at assessment centres has also partially been driven by those equating a clear test result with a false sense of security.
“We’re also seeing asymptomatic people thinking they’ll just get a COVID test and relax,” Etches said. “That testing is not recommended, and it is driving some volume at the centres.”
Etches warned against a similar mentality amid another potential surge in testing demands in September when thousands of students and teachers return to school.
“We need to keep capacity for people who have symptoms,” Etches said. “If you are sick with a mild flu-like illness, you’re one of those people we want to prioritize through the testing lineups, as well as those people who are in close contact with positive cases.
“The best use of our testing is to test, once a case is identified, around that case, or broadly in an outbreak setting to control that outbreak,” Etches said.
“I don’t see any need for parents or youth to all go get tested before school starts. That would be problematic, it’s not warranted, and it has the same problems with the thinking that you can get tested and then you can socialize,” Etches said.
“We do need testing capacity for students and youth and teachers and workers when there’s a case identified in a school, and part of the renewed, improved testing approach will include the capacity to respond to schools in a timely way to make that access easy for those who need it, related to a school environment.” ahelmer@postmedia.com Twitter.com/ helmera