Thunder Bay hospital eyes separate COVID-19 assessment centre for students and teachers
CBC News | Posted: September 24, 2020 7:03 PM | Last Updated: September 24, 2020
Move comes after public school student tests positive for virus
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is hoping to open a new COVID-19 assessment centre for students and teachers in the city as it continues to work through a testing backlog.
The hospital currently has a COVID-19 assessment centre on its property; however, Dr. Stewart Kennedy, who's heading up the hospital's pandemic response, said it's "getting overwhelmed."
The new centre could be located in a school in the city, Kennedy said.
"We're working now in collaboration with the boards of education to find a site for us," he said. "We will train the nurses. We will actually prepare the expertise and will certainly staff it. We just need a site."
Kennedy said demand for testing has increased drastically since schools reopened.
Schools, he said, are following public health guidelines when it comes to preventing outbreaks, but Kennedy said the guidelines need to be re-evaluated, especially when it comes to testing children for the virus.
Currently, Ontario lists a number of possible COVID-19 symptoms, including a runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, headaches, loss of appetite, and a skin rash.
Children showing any of the symptoms are required to stay home from school, and is contributing to an uptick in demand for tests.
"As a primary care physician, I see runny nose and sore throats every single day," Kennedy said. "We need to actually put a little more science behind our testing so it relaxes the demand."
Kennedy said the hospital doesn't currently have the capacity to test asymptomatic people, and there's also demand for testing for residents and employees in long-term care facilities, and visitors.
As for the new assessment site, Kennedy hopes it will be open soon.
"We're working as a coordinated team to get that moving because we need to take care of the parents, the teachers and the children in this community to make sure they don't have to stay home for 10 or 15 days," Kennedy said.
Lakehead Public Schools announced Wednesday that one public school student, who's enrolled at Ecole Gron Morgan, has tested positive for COVID-19.
All members of the student's class are being required to quarantine for 14 days.