Updated direction on who will be tested at the Huntsville COVID-19 Assessment Centre has been provided by the Algonquin Family Health Team.
The centre is operated in partnership with the Town, local physicians and the Algonquin Family Health Team, located at the Canada Summit Centre, Active Living Centre.
To prioritize those who are at the greatest risk of more severe COVID-19 complications, the Ministry of Health issued updated provincial testing guidance on December 30, 2021.
The new eligibility criteria preserve testing capacity for those at the highest risk of contracting COVID-19.
Those considered to be the highest risk include:
– patient-facing healthcare workers;
– staff, residents, essential care providers and visitors in hospitals and congregate living settings, including long-term care, retirement homes, First Nation elder care lodges, group homes, shelters, hospices, temporary foreign worker settings and correctional institutions;
– people who are from First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities and individuals travelling into these communities for work;
– individuals 70+ years of age with a risk factor (such as obesity, diabetes or kidney disease);
– under-housed or homeless individuals.
Testing for asymptomatic contacts of cases is no longer recommended, except for high-risk contacts and/or individuals that are part of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in high-risk
settings, as recommended by public health.
Individuals with symptoms of COVID-19 can be presumed to be infected with COVID-19 and should initiate timely self-isolation to prevent transmission in the community and follow these
steps.
This new guidance also states that positive rapid antigen tests no longer require PCR confirmation at an assessment centre.