HALIFAX, N.S. — The province now has a test procedure for the novel coronavirus that can confirm negative results without sending the sample to the national disease control centre in Winnipeg but if any positives turn up they still have to go to the national lab.
That means negatives should be confirmed with 24 hours while any positives could take several days for confirmation. Those would be considered presumptive positives until confirmed in Winnipeg, said Nova Scotia Health Authority officials on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Nova Scotians are clogging the 811 phone system as they seek tests for and information on COVID-19.
Bethany McCormick, the NSHA’s senior director of strategy, planning and performance, and Dr. Todd Hatchette, Chief of Microbiology, held a news conference to update the situation.
Hatchette said he could not speak to how many people have now been tested for the virus, other than to say the numbers change every day.
Heather Fairbairn, spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Wellness, said in an email Thursday that Nova Scotia had tested 57 people to date, and all were negative.
Health officials recommend anyone who has travelled outside Canada in the past 14 days and are starting to feel sick should call 811 and answer some questions to see if they meet the criteria requiring the test.
McCormick said while the majority of those going to testing centres have gone through 811 first, some are going in without calling.
“We know that a lot of people are concerned, but it’s really important that we are focussing the assessment centres on those individuals that mean the screening criteria for both travel and symptoms,” she said.
McCormick said the volume of patients needing to be assessed has led to assessment centres opening Thursday morning at the Halifax Infirmary site and Dartmouth General. Other sites already in operation are at the Cape Breton Regional Hospital, Sydney, Valley Regional Hospital, Kentville, South Shore Regional Hospital, Bridgewater, Yarmouth Regional Hospital, Yarmouth, Colchester East Hants Health Centre, Truro, East Side Collaborative Practice, New Glasgow, Cumberland Regional Health Care Centre, Amherst, St. Martha’s Regional Hospital in Antigonish, and Cobequid Community Health Centre, Lower Sackville.
There have been reports of line-ups and some concerns about those waiting being near other hospital areas.
“We know that the experiences that people are having at the assessment centres may not be perfect but people have to remember that these are some of the first assessment centres in Canada and were set up in 36 hours, so there will be bumps in the road,” Hatchette said. “What I would ask for is a little bit of patience, but feedback is essential.”
'Frustrating' wait for 811 callback
Rick leBrasseur is one man whose patience is wearing thin. The Truro man has been waiting a little over 24 hours after calling 811 and being told he met the initial criteria for a callback.
“They said yesterday ‘we’ll call you back in two-and-a-half hours’ and I tried calling five times today, the first time at about 9 o’clock in the morning,” leBrasseur said on Thursday afternoon. “I was on hold for about 45 minutes and had to give up. And now when you try it just goes to voicemail saying technical difficulties or something. I supposedly am on the list for a callback but it hasn’t happened.”
"If they’re going to put all those PSAs on the radio and heighten your anxiety and say do this, fine, I’ll follow along, but I think they should be doing their part, too."
- Rick leBrasseur
LeBrasseur, 50, returned from a trip to Disney World in Florida the final week of February and then came down with flu-like symptoms after about 48 hours, including fever and cough. He said it got quite bad at one point and he spent a couple of days in bed but seemed to get better, only for some of the symptoms to return. His family did not catch the bug.
He did say he doesn’t think he has contracted COVID-19 but he’s trying to follow the advice the government is putting out.
“If they’re going to put all those PSAs on the radio and heighten your anxiety and say do this, fine, I’ll follow along, but I think they should be doing their part, too.
“It’s just frustrating that they’re not able to follow through,” leBrasseur said.
Hatchette said the NSHA is working toward an appointment-based process that hopefully will reduce lineups. Now, 811 notifies the testing centres when someone meets the criteria and the centre staff reach out to the patient and facilitate when they should come to be tested. When people come to the centre facility, a staff member will meet them at the door and tell them where to go. They may have to wait and so are issued masks and advised on cough and hand-washing hygiene.
McCormick said they are also considering possible in-home testing for those who can’t make it to a centre.
They expect the volumes to increase even more after March break when people who are travelling return to the province.
Between March 1 and 10, 811 serviced 3,097 calls, ranging between 260 to more than 390 calls per Fairbairn said.
“With the recent change in national screening protocols, we are experiencing a significant increase in calls to the service. As an example, on March 11, 811 had 1,364 incoming calls within a 24-hour period.”
She said many of those calls were asking for information or travel advice, which is not what 811 is for. She said people with those questions should go to the health department’s website or by calling the federal COVID-1 9 hotline at 1-833-784-4397.
“We are actively working to redirect resources from other areas of our operation, as well as recruiting to hire additional staff to respond to the increase in call volumes. We are also in the process of adding additional lines to increase our capacity to accept calls (bringing the total to more than 90) and developing an online self-assessment tool for our website.”
The new lines were expected to be up and running by the end of Thursday.
