Wait times for COVID-19 tests a challenge for patients, families

While the Saskatchewan Health Authority is now offering universal COVID-19 testing, people in the province have to wait longer for a test than they did at the start of the pandemic. 

Those who report potential symptoms of COVID-19 are now asked to wait 48 hours before getting tested. According to the health authority, the current policy is intended to reduce the risk of false negative results.

"In early March we were still in early days of COVID-19 knowledge," said SHA media relations consultant Lisa Thomson.

"There was a short period of time that the recommendation to wait 48 [hours] after symptom onset was not in place, but once studies were published indicating that there was [a] decreased chance of false negatives if patients were not tested for 48 hours, this practice was implemented in March."

But one Saskatoon man waiting for test results says the delay has been disruptive to his life and his family, and he's concerned about what the waits might mean for others over the months to come. 

Jim Clifford came down with a fever Wednesday afternoon. He immediately isolated himself from his wife and two young children, then called 811.

The health line referred him for a COVID-19 test. On Friday afternoon, he was told his local testing site could see him Monday.

After protesting what would have been a five-day wait, he was referred to a different test site that could fit him in that evening. But the wait and uncertainty continue to be challenging.

"If I'd had a test yesterday and got the results at some point today — with no fever anymore, no cough, no other respiratory issues — I could have dinner with my kids tonight and help put them to bed," he said.

"I could be a functioning part of my family.… My partner is going to be exhausted, doing full-time parenting."

The SHA estimates an approximately 24-hour turnaround between when a sample is received in the lab and when the person receives their results.

In the meantime, until he gets a negative result, Clifford has been advised to continue isolating himself. 

He is especially concerned about how those wait times will impact parents and families heading into the fall, when their children will be returning to classrooms in person.

Through his experience this week, he has found that isolating a member of a household for at least 72 hours at a time is no mean feat.

"We have a six-year-old and an almost four-year-old, so we have viruses coming through our house almost on a monthly basis," Clifford said.

"Maybe it'll be a bit better this year, as everybody's a bit more careful and aware of hand hygiene and other issues, but with daycare starting for us next week, I still imagine we're going to have a regular stream of colds coming through our household," he said.

"We can't shut down like this every five to six weeks through cold and flu season."