More municipal facilities to be made available as COVID test sites: mayor
The City of Ottawa is offering up more municipal facilities to use as COVID -19 testing sites, according to Mayor Jim Watson, who told Premier Doug Ford on Friday that there needs to be a “pivot” in messaging to keep asymptomatic people away from the long lineups.
“Everyone is stretched to the limit and while we added four hours this week to Brewer (Arena), we still need facilities more geographically spread out,” Watson said after his meeting with Ford at the Château Laurier.
Watson didn't want to disclose the facilities offered to be used as testing sites because they're being finalized, but he expected that additional test sites will be announced sometime next week.
“We don't run the testing system, but if we can be helpful by providing these facilities free of charge, then we'll do that,” Watson said
Brewer Arena, a municipal facility, is the main COVID-19 assessment centre and in recent days has seen families start lining up in the early hours to guarantee tests before closing. Other testing sites on Moodie Drive and Heron Road have also been swamped.
Watson said he's been told by health officials that between 50 per cent and 90 per cent of people in the lines have no symptoms.
“That is putting a strain on the system,” Watson said, and he told Ford the messaging needs to change so people without symptoms aren't going to testing sites.
A few hours later, however, Ford continued to encourage people who don't have symptoms to get tested if they want to.
“We have the asymptomatic folks that may be anxious, or they want to get tested, and God bless them, get tested, but we're going to be prepared and we're ramping up,” Ford said during a press conference. Much of the anger generated by the long testing lines and overrun assessment sites is rooted in confusion about how this could happen when officials knew when students would be returning to class.
Watson said Ottawa Public Health has stepped up to help, but the primary responsibility for testing is with the hospital network. The Ottawa Hospital, Queensway Carleton Hospital, Montfort Hospital and CHEO all have roles in the local testing program.
“To their credit now, and I've talked to all four hospital presidents, they understand the urgency and frustration and they have to get this problem fixed.”
The city continues to be in a state of emergency because of the pandemic. Health professionals have been returning to hospitals to clear backlogs of surgeries and other appointments, so another challenge is finding enough capable workers to staff new testing sites.
The delays paramedics are experiencing off-loading patients at local hospitals also came up in the meeting between Watson and Ford. The Ottawa Paramedic Service is teetering on falling below a city council-ordered standard for responding to life-threatening calls.
Watson sees a link between the paramedic off-load problem and COVID -19 testing, since paramedics could be called into action to help administer the testing, especially in rural Ottawa.
Ford said Loblaws (which owns Shoppers Drug Mart), McKesson (which owns Rexall) and Walmart have “stepped up” when it comes to implementing test options at pharmacies. There will be “numerous” pharmacies on board for testing by end of next week, the premier said.