Mobile testing clinic coming to Sherbrooke neighbourhood after spike in COVID-19 cases

A mobile COVID-19 testing clinic will be set up in a Sherbrooke, Que., neighbourhood Thursday after 28 people tested positive between Aug. 14 and Aug. 25.

Sherbrooke's regional health authority confirmed the mobile testing site will be set up in the Ascot neighbourhood, where the people who tested positive live. 

Anyone who has been to a private gathering, visited parks without respecting physical distancing, or travelled on public transit is advised to get tested.

Those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms should be tested as soon as possible, public health said. 

Residents of the Ascot neighbourhood will be notified of the mobile clinic's location by public health.

"We will provide whatever resources public health needs," said Sherbrooke Mayor Steve Lussier in a statement. "The health and safety of the population remains our priority." 

A neighbourhood approach

Dr. Geneviève Petit, a public health physician with the CIUSSS de l'Estrie and CHUS, says the spike in cases is not considered an outbreak, since public health hasn't identified a single source for the cases. 

"It's a variety of exposures that led to this excess of cases," Petit said. 

She said the 28 people who tested positive vary in age and lifestyle, and none of them have been hospitalized thus far. 

"We have young people, older people," Petit said. "Small families, individuals."

What they have in common is they all live close to one another. 

Petit says all of the people who tested positive — and those they have been in contact with — are in isolation. 

Public health is working with the city, community partners from the area and schools to prevent further spread. 

"It's a more neighbourhood approach than to a single event approach," Petit said.