After weeks of struggling to meet the demand for testing, changes are coming to London's two COVID-19 assessment centres.
As of Monday, the Oakridge location at 825 Valetta St. will be by appointment only, discontinuing the time card system that was put in place in recent weeks.
This means those seeking a test will have to call the site at 519-667-6886 and leave a message with their name, call back number and reason for the test. Assessment workers will call back with an appointment time within two business days, according to the Thames Valley Family Health Team, which operates London's assessment centres in partnership with the Middlesex London Health Unit, London Health Sciences Centre, Middlesex London Paramedic Service and the City of London.
The Oakridge assessment centre will remain open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Friday.
Patients prioritized at this site include:
-Symptomatic children ages 12 and under -Symptomatic essential health care workers -Asymptomatic residents, workers, visitors or caregivers to a retirement home or long-term care facility -Asymptomatic International students who have passed their 14-day quarantine period -Asymptomatic farm workers -Indigenous community members -Other setting specific populations as defined by the Chief Medical Officer of Health, such as pre-operative or pre-chemotherapy patients.
The Carling Heights assessment centre at 656 Elizabeth Street will now be the city's only walk-in testing site with new extended hours.
It will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
People arriving at the site will be given a card that provides them a specific time to return for a test, so they do not have to wait in line for an extended period of time.
Patients accepted at the Carling assessment centre include:
-Those with COVID-19 symptoms -Anyone notified by Public Health or the COVID-19 Alert App that they have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus -Live or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak as identified by Public Health -People eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative as determined by the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Long Term Care
“We are happy that these changes will allow us to test more people, but we recognize that additional tests are needed,” Mike McMahon, executive director of the Thames Valley Family Health, said in a statement. “We will continue to work with our partners to look for ways to streamline our testing capacity. We would also like to thank our neighbours at Carling and Oakridge Assessment Centres for their patience and support over the last six months.”
The changes come as the facilities have reached testing capacity daily for the past three weeks. Since mid-September when three community outbreaks linked to post secondary students were declared, people wanting to get tested have been lining up at the two sites as early as 4:30 a.m.
The two sites saw their highest weekly testing total the week of September 13 when nearly 4,700 people were seen.
