The only thing worse than waiting hours for a COVID-19 test is doing it without a car
Those on foot arrive before dawn and wait outside alongside cars for appointment blocks
Carin Ernst's parents are in their 70s and since she developed a sore throat and headache, she wants to get a COVID-19 test before she goes to visit them again.
But Ernst doesn't have a car, so after taking two buses to the Carling Heights assessment centre early Thursday morning, she stood outside in the dark with others, while hundreds of cars lined up, also before dawn, for a chance to get one of the coveted 400 or so testing spots.
"I took the Kipps Lane bus, the Adelaide bus, then I had to walk all the way here. I am really frustrated," Ernst said. She arrived around 6:30 a.m.
The temperature was 9 C and the sun wouldn't rise for another hour.
"They should have a better system. This is stupid," Ernst said.
Beside her, Jeffery Dowler, shivered in his sweater. He arrived at the centre around 6:30 a.m. as well, after getting up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the first London Transit bus he could.
'It sucks standing here'
"It's pretty cold, I'm in a sweater because I thought it would be warmer and but it's a lot colder than I thought it would be," Dowler said.
"It sucks standing here. There should be a stand or something for the people without cars, somewhere to sit down at least."
Officials who run the centres say they are trying to make sure those in cars and those on foot are given equitable access to appointment slots.
Although pylons mark where cars should wait in line, there are no such markings for pedestrians. Those arriving on foot are at the mercy of others, who point them where to go. At first, Dowler waited in a line of cars, until a security guard told him to go to the front of the line.
Dowler and Ernst, along with all those waiting on foot, on bikes and in cars, waited until 8 a.m., when assessment centre staff started handing out appointment cards. Ernst and Dowler both got 4 p.m. cards, which means they had to go home on the bus, and make it back to the centre in the afternoon.
Starting Monday, the Carling centre will open earlier, 9 a.m. instead of 11 a.m. It's unknown what that will do to the line-ups, and if they'll begin even earlier.
The Oakridge assessment centre will be open for appointments only, but they'll take at least two days. It means someone like Dowler, who wants to get back to work, would wait at least five days if he went to the Oakridge centre, assuming his test results take three days to come back, as they have been this week.
The revamped Oakridge and Carling operations and hours, made public on Thursday morning, made no mention of any changes to those who have to wait outside for their appointments.