Chatham-Kent's public health unit is exceeding provincial quotas for swab testing its residents to determine if they have COVID-19.
The claim came from Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Colby during a media briefing via conference call on Thursday morning. The local health unit reported 662 of the 806 long term care residents and 607 of the 1,129 staff across the seven local nursing homes have been tested so far. Colby said 31 residents and two staff have refused the swabbing tests. The provincial deadline to complete the testing in long term care homes is May 15 and Colby said they'll be done well before the deadline.
"We're well ahead of the game," he said.
The local health unit reported, so far, no one at local long term care and retirement homes has tested positive for COVID-19 and Colby said he's not surprised. He added he expected that from the beginning and doesn't know of any other jurisdiction that has no COVID-19 outbreaks at its long term care and nursing homes.
Dr. Colby also said three per cent of the community has been tested, which he said is a very high proportion of the population. The health unit is reporting a total of 1,969 tests done as of Thursday with 31 results pending. That's an average of about 35 a day outside of the testing going on at the nursing homes.
Premier Doug Ford expressed frustration with some medical officers of health this week because the number of tests being done wasn't up to the level the province had been demanding. However, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health said the drop was due to a supply shortage and a problem with couriers delivering the tests to laboratories on the weekend.
Outside of an outbreak at Greenhill Produce, Chatham-Kent has only had two positive cases of COVID-19 in the past 14 days. CK Public Health reported 53 active cases early Thursday afternoon. A total of 50 are from the Greenhill Produce outbreak. One person has recovered there and a total of 35 have recovered overall across Chatham-Kent.
Meanwhile, Chatham-Kent Health Alliance (CKHA) has launched a new online booking tool to schedule an appointment at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre next to the hospital at 47 Emma Street in Chatham.
Click here to complete the online form to schedule an appointment.
A valid "green" Ontario health card is needed to get an appointment and an email address is required to receive an appointment date and time.
Patients who have a "red and white" Ontario health card, or those who do not have access to technology, can book an appointment by calling CKHA's Registration at 519.352.6400 ext. 6548 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday to Friday. After hours and on weekends, patients can call CKHA's Switchboard at 519.352.6400 ext. 6584.
Patients are reminded to speak to their primary care provider, CK Public Health or Telehealth Ontario if they think they have COVID-19 symptoms before booking an appointment. Hospital officials are also advising people to book an appointment rather than randomly attend the assessment centre because patients who arrive as a walk-in will be seen at the earliest convenience by the health care team and may be asked to return the next day or book an appointment if all of the time slots are filled. Patients are also reminded to bring their health card when attending the assessment centre so the health care team can properly identify you and don't forget to bring a list of medications and any other information regarding allergies and past medical issues.
