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Sudbury has capacity to double its COVID-19 testing numbers

Three test sites have been swabbing about 100 people daily
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HSN gave local media a tour of their Walford Road testing site on April 16, to provide a closer look at what the day-to-day rigor is like inside a COVID-19 testing area. (Matt Durnan/Sudbury.com)

Greater Sudbury's three COVID-19 testing sites have been swabbing roughly 100 people per day, and there's room for that number to double.

According to Public Health Sudbury & Districts, there have been 2,629 tests carried out in the area since the first test site on Walford Road at Health Sciences North Research Institute opened on March 13.

Testing was a slow crawl in the early days of COVID-19 here in Greater Sudbury, as there was a struggle to get swabs, coupled with a rigid screening process that only allowed people with certain symptoms to be tested.

On April 8, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was blunt in calling the province's testing numbers "absolutely unacceptable," calling for 13,000 COVID-19 tests to be done in Ontario every day.

In the wake of Ford's comments, the criteria for testing has been opened up to a wider patient base, more test kits have been made available, and more sites have been opening. 

Here in Sudbury, the HSNRI site expanded to include a drive-through option open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, and two more drive-through sites were opened at NEOMO Medical at 885 Prete St., open 8 a.m.-4 p.m., seven days a week and the Primacy Medical Centre site, open seven days a week between 11 a.m. and 9 p.m.

Retired family physician, Dr. Deborah Smith has been working at the Walford Road site since it opened, coming out of retirement and jumping back on the front lines.

"Initially there were very narrow criteria for people to meet in order to qualify for testing," said Smith. "This opened up about two weeks ago because we wanted to get a better picture of what the burden of disease was in the Sudbury area."

Increased testing helps give a more accurate picture of what the true number of COVID-19 cases are in the area, while allowing the city's public health unit to trace where the virus is spreading from.

"From the public health perspective it allows us to know how much disease there is in the community so that we can do contact tracing and have the person who is affected self-isolate so that they don't spread it anymore, but we can also contact whoever they've been in contact with to advise them to get tested and to self-isolate as well," said Smith.

Between Sudbury's three test sites, there have been around 100 swabs carried out daily, a number that Smith says has room to at least double, thanks to an increased number of test kits that are available and looser restrictions on who qualifies for a test.

"We do certainly have the capability to do much more than (100 per day) and we could probably double it through our partnerships with NEOMO and Primacy," said Smith.

The process of getting a test is a straightforward one, as anyone who has the symptoms of COVID-19 can call the assessment line at 705-671-7373 and be screened over the telephone. Thanks to the phone screening, tests can be carried out in about 10 minutes and usually on the same day as you are assessed.

"We get a lot of information on the phone so all of the background information is already done prior to the patient presenting," said Smith. "The actual visit is very quick."

There may be some apprehension among those who are seeking a test, as word has spread that the test itself can be an unpleasant experience.

"It's a swab that goes into the back of the nose, it's a very small swab but yes, it is uncomfortable, but I wouldn't describe it as painful and most people tolerate it very well. The actual test is only about 10 to 15 seconds at most."

Once testing is completed, patients are instructed to self-isolate and they are able to access their test results online through a health portal.

"If the test is positive, the public health unit will also contact the patient, if it's negative we will follow up from the assessment centre and let them know," said Smith. "But they are also able to access their results themselves."

For more information, including COVID-19 symptoms, local cases and test sites, visit phsd.ca.


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