Lines growing as demand for COVID-19 tests surges

With COVID-19 cases surging in B.C., frustration is growing over long lineups and waits at testing sites.

Although the province claims to have the capacity for 8,000 tests per day, and in early August announced plans to ramp up testing capacity to 16,000 per day by November, the highest number of daily tests to date was on Aug. 13, when 3,488 tests were conducted.

Traffic gridlock is a regular sight on Cambie Street as cars try to make their way to the St. Vincent’s testing site at Heather and West 33rd, and Vancouver resident Jim Hutchinson was unable to get a test done at the City Centre site on Sunday, despite having a fever of 101 degrees C and other symptoms.

B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson confirmed on Monday that health authorities have seen a rapid increase in demand for testing in recent weeks, and last week in particular, and that there has been “some delay in the ramp-up of that capacity.”

“We have been working on testing capacity in two ways — one is the test capacity in laboratories ... and health authorities are looking at their demand for testing and ensuring that the availability of testing is increased in every region, and in every health authority,” Gustafson said.

Over the weekend, around 10,500 tests were performed throughout the province, with 236 positive results delivered.

Hutchinson, an SFU lecturer, didn’t receive one of those 10,500 tests. He said he felt unwell on Saturday, suffering with a headache and high fever. After consulting the Vancouver Coastal Health Self Assessment tool, he was advised to get tested.

He and his family isolated in their downtown home, and the next morning he walked to the City Centre testing site at 1290 Hornby St., arriving at 9:45 a.m.

Hutchinson estimated 50 to 100 people were milling around outside — not all of whom were social distancing.

“A sign on the door said, ‘At capacity,’” said Hutchinson. There were no other signs or instructions.

Someone who appeared to be a medical practitioner emerged to tell people not to bother asking about waiting times, said Hutchinson. Hutchinson said the employee announced that anyone who didn’t have a number wouldn’t be tested that day.

There was no information given on how or where to get a number, said Hutchinson. He returned home and continues to self-isolate, and still hasn’t been tested.

“I was surprised, it’s so bad. People aren’t going to get tests who should probably get tests,” said Hutchinson.

At a news conference on Monday, Health Minister Adrian Dix said test numbers have increased.

“Health authorities did 10,500 tests over the weekend, and that’s the basis over which the 236 test positive cases came, which is significantly more than we had been doing. So part of this is measuring public demand and ensuring our facilities are able to meet it — there’s no point in having facilities ready to do 5,000 tests if there are (only) 2,000 people coming.”

According to data on the B.C. Centre of Disease Control website, on Feb. 14 there were 44 tests conducted. Testing numbers increased steadily throughout the spring, with 1,548 tests conducted in B.C. on March 14, and 2,654 conducted on July 15. Turnaround times for test results in B.C. averages between 19 and 31 hours.

B.C. has run 300,230 COVID-19 tests to date, with an average testing rate of around 43,000 people for every one million population since the pandemic began, according to the Centre for Disease Control website.

B.C.’s testing rate is less than half the Canadian average, which is 102,791 per million people, according to federal statistics.

Cases throughout the province continue to surge, with 100 new cases reported from Friday to Saturday, 88 from Saturday to Sunday, and 48 from Sunday to Monday, bringing the provincial total to 4,594 cases.

More than 1,400 of those cases have been in Vancouver Coastal Health, 2,425 in Fraser Health, 154 in Island Health, 405 in Interior Health, and 117 in Northern Health.

There are currently 743 active cases in the province, with 2,286 people under public health monitoring, and two more deaths, bringing the total to 198 deaths.