The Grey Bruce Public Health Unit. (Matt Hermiz/Bayshore Broadcasting)
The Grey Bruce Health Unit says they’ve received reports about many residents attending Covid assessment centres and demanding a test when they’re not eligible for one.
Public Health says they’ve also had reports indicating staff at assessment centres are being met with challenging and sometimes abusive language.
“At this time, it is more important than ever to remain kind. Staff must follow new guidelines, and we ask the residents of Grey and Bruce to review and understand the new testing and case and contact management protocols set forth by the province, and to treat all with kindness and understanding as we all work to follow and understand these new protocols,” a release from the Grey Bruce Health Unit says. “If you do not met eligibility for testing, you will not be tested.”
The Ontario government made changes to PCR testing eligibility on Dec. 31. According to the health unit, only the following symptomatic groups are eligible:
-Hospitalized patients
-Patients in Emergency Departments, at the discretion of the treating clinician
-Patient-facing health care 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
-Outpatients for whom COVID-19 treatment is being considered
-Under housed or homeless
-People who are from First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities and individuals travelling into these communities for work
-Symptomatic elementary and secondary students and education staff who have received a PCR self-collection kit through their school
-People on admission/transfer to or from hospital or congregate living setting
-High-risk contacts and asymptomatic/symptomatic people in the context of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in high-risk settings, including hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes, other congregate living settings and institutions, and other settings as directed by the local public health unit
-Individuals, and one accompanying caregiver, with written prior approval for out-of-country medical services from the General Manager, OHIP
-Asymptomatic testing in hospital, long-term care, retirement homes and other congregate living settings and Institutions as per provincial guidance and/or Directives
Among the other key changes in protocol in Ontario implemented recently:
• Individuals with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 are presumed positive and they should follow isolation and/or self-monitoring guidelines.
• Testing for asymptomatic contacts of cases is generally no longer recommended, except for high-risk contacts/individuals that are part of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in high-risk settings, as recommended by public health.
• Positive rapid antigen tests will no longer require PCR confirmation.
• Based on the latest scientific evidence, individuals with COVID-19 should isolate for five days if they are fully vaccinated or under the age of 12, and if their symptoms are improving for at least 24 hours.