Will London's COVID assessment centres be able to handle an influx of families seeking tests?
Toronto and Windsor have both opened pediatric assessment centres in preparation for fall
As kids head back to class next week, those who remember last year's massive lineups for COVID-19 tests after school started may be wondering what is being done to make sure that kind of disruption doesn't happen again, particularly with the more virulent Delta strain circulating.
In Windsor and Toronto, hospitals have opened special COVID-19 clinics just for kids, an effort to deal with rising infections and an expected surge as students return to school.
In London, where last year some people showed up at 4 a.m. to claim precious testing spots and lines snaked down city blocks, nothing like that is happening.
In the Middlesex-London Health Unit region, assessment centres are run by the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC) and the Thames Valley Family Health Team (TVFHT).
"Carling Assessment Centre currently has the capacity for 500 assessments per day with the ability to gradually increase our capacity to 700 appointments per day. The site has supported paediatric patients since its opening in March 2020 and we remain able to continue to support this cohort," a spokesperson for the London Health Sciences Centre wrote to CBC in an email, adding that no one was available for an interview about the issue.
"In July, over 15 per cent of those assessed at Carling were under the age of 18. As we look ahead to the fall, we are working with our partners at Ontario Health West on plans for addressing any potential changes in the COVID-19 testing needs our paediatric population."
The region's medical officer of health said he is confident that LHSC and the Thames Valley Family Health Team will be able to "adjust operations" to manage long lineups if they occur.
"They are well aware of the school year coming, and I know they are aware of the need for pediatric testing capacity," Dr. Chris Mackie said Thursday.
"They've been looking at how best to do that, but I don't have the details of that. We'll see about massive lineups. We definitely have gone through that, we know how to deal with that."
Right now, capacity far exceeds demand at the assessment centre, Mackie said. "I don't think we're in a place in time where we need to expand capacity but we do know that testing volumes increase as kids aren't able to come to school because of symptoms."
Testing demand expected
In Windsor, the Paediatric Urgent Medical Assessment Clinic offers COVID-19 testing, urgent care medical assessment and vaccines to those 12 to 17. Hospital officials say they're expecting an increased need for testing.
That's because kids are going back to school with the more transmissible Delta variant spreading in the community, there are fewer COVID-19 restrictions, youth sports have restarted, and kids born in 2010 or later aren't eligible for the vaccine.
In London, things have changed at the assessment centres since last year. Appointments can now be made online, and some pharmacies are offering testing for those who don't have symptoms but need test results to travel or work, taking pressure off the remaining Carling Assessment Centre on Elizabeth Street (the Oakridge assessment centre closed earlier this summer).
Tests for those with symptoms can also be booked at the MyHealth Centre on Wharncliffe Road North. Western University and Fanshawe College also have their own assessment centres.