Staff at Guelph's COVID-19 assessment centre are pushing to meet demand amid a surge in COVID-19 transmission in the community.
Just two weeks ago, staff at the centre were performing about 200 tests a day, now that number has jumped to over 500 test daily, said Gavin Webb, vice-president finance and information management for Guelph General Hospital.
According to Wellington Dufferin Guelph Public Health, 3,258 tests were completed at the Guelph Assessment Centre between Dec. 12 to Dec. 18 — more than any other week in 2021.
"The rise in cases came on very quickly," said Christine Hutchinson, manager of the Guelph COVID-19 Assessment Centre. "And we've seen a huge spike in demand in the community."
While the site has seen similarly high volumes during past waves, it previously had a fuller complement of staff, explained Hutchinson.
"Our people are working very hard right now to meet the demands," she said.
Currently there are around 16 to 18 clinical and non-clinical staff at the location on any given day, but administrators are "trying our best to recruit as fast as possible" to get up to 20 or 21.
In another measure to increase capacity, Hutchinson said the centre plans to expand "take home testing," which it has used for children since November, to adults as well early in the new year.
Like the nasopharyngeal swab most of us have become familiar with during the pandemic, the oral buccal nasal swab used for take home tests is a PCR test, but it's less invasive.
"People pick up a kit and they take it home for their kids or some people just do it in the car to avoid having to come back to the centre," Hutchinson said.
Once swabs are returned, they're processed the same way as tests performed inside the centre.
Expanding take home testing to adults will lessen the pressure the assessment centre is currently facing as they don't require a health care professional to complete, explained Hutchinson.
The centre is also looking to upgrade the platform used to manage scheduling.
Although administrators don't have numbers on how many people aren't able to get through the phone lines to book a test, or receive an automatic message telling them bookings are full and to call back tomorrow, "I would say it's safe to say there are more people calling looking for testing than we have spots on any given day," said Webb.
And while there's a need to increase current capacity, the centre is also looking to the future as they scale up.
"We are also anticipating with Omicron to see even further increases in the amount of demand for testing, so getting ready for what's to come is also what we're working toward," he said.
Meanwhile, while some public health units in the province are reporting a shortage of PCR tests, Webb said that's not an issue here.
Ultimately, he emphasized staff at the assessment centre are "doing a phenomenal job" and asked the public to continue to be respectful when they visit.
"We just can't say enough about the work that they're doing," he said. "They'll be working over the holidays, extra time, to keep up with what we're seeing."
COVID-19 test and testing location information is available here and can be searched by postal code.
Specific information on the Guelph COVID-19 Assessment Centre is available here.
