Pop-up testing for Barrhaven school communities this weekend

Ottawa Public Health plans a popup COVID-19 testing clinic for school communities in Barrhaven on the weekend.

It's the third weekend a school has hosted a pop-up clinic open to students, staff and family members at multiple schools in the neighbourhood.

Ontario Education Minister Stephen Lecce promised a provincewide program of testing asymptomatic people connected with schools, saying it's a key initiative to make the buildings safer as students return to in-person classes.

When it's fully rolled out, 50,000 tests could be conducted at schools each week, with about half of them rapid tests, Lecce has said.

Some epidemiologists and doctors as well as education unions have called on the government to introduce more widespread and regular asymptomatic testing for school staff, and the estimated 1.5 million students attending classes in person, to help contain the spread of COVID -19 as more contagious variants of the virus take hold.

The decision on whether testing is done and details on how it's conducted have been left up to local public health units.

There has been a lot of public interest in the results of the pop-up testing clinics and what the data might show about the prevalence and transmission of COVID-19 in schools.

However, in Ottawa, OPH says analyzing the data takes time, and the results of the latest rapid-testing clinic can't be extrapolated to reach conclusions about students across the city.

“We understand the interest in the data surrounding this initiative and we will be implementing a reporting system to ensure that accurate data is available in a timely manner,” said OPH in a statement. “Going forward, OPH is planning to publish this information to our website on a weekly basis.”

The pop-up sites make it easier for students and staff to get tested at or near their school, OPH said.

The first two pop-ups were held at Ridgemont High School and Gabrielle Roy elementary, but students, staff and family members from multiple schools nearby were also invited.

On Jan. 30-31, 257 people were tested, which included 165 students. Two students were positive for COVID-19 based on PCR tests done in a laboratory.

The rapid-testing clinic on Feb. 6-7 was open to school communities in an area of the city that has seen higher rates of COVID -19 infections in recent weeks, OPH said.

“The purpose of testing is to identify any students with asymptomatic infections, improve accessibility of testing for those with and without symptoms, prevent the introduction of COVID-19 into schools, and learn more about transmission risk related to schools.”

That clinic used both rapid tests and laboratory-based tests, which are used to confirm a positive result.

Over two days, 175 people were tested, including students, staff, family members and people who had been identified as highrisk contacts of someone with COVID-19. There were a mix of people with and without symptoms.

Of the 48 students tested, six were positive for the virus. “These individuals and their families were advised to stay home until confirmatory lab-based results were received and, if confirmed positive, they were required to complete their isolation period,” OPH said.

Those test results, however, do not reflect how many students in Ottawa may have COVID-19.

“Please note that the number of students who tested positive at this clinic is not representative of the larger student population in the city, as students being tested included those with symptoms, those with a known high-risk exposure, and those who were called to the clinic following a positive rapid test in a family member,” OPH said.