The head of Regional HIV/AIDS Connection says the coronavirus outbreak has given new urgency for the need to relocate London's supervised drug consumption site to a permanent location.

"It's always been crowded, even prior to COVID-19," said executive director Brian Lester of the site at 186 King St. "It's never been an ideal square footage, but we've made it work."

The King Street site opened in February 2018 as a temporary space while the process to find and get approval for a permanent location got underway. The temporary site serves between 70 and 100 clients on a typical day. In a little more than two years, it's handled more than 20,000 visits and reversed 125 overdoses.

The site operates two services: Counterpoint, which provides clean syringes and Carepoint, which provides a space where clients can use illegal drugs under medical supervision and connect with recovery services.

The goal is to reduce overdoses and limit the spread of diseases such as HIV and hepatitis. It's also a space where people can connect with counselling services.

The day-to-day operations of the site are run by the Regional HIV/AIDS Connection with funding from the Middlesex London Health Unit and the province.

When COVID-19 hit, the site was able to remain open as an essential service while following new physical distancing rules. Staff are also now required to wear full personal protective equipment.

The space restrictions have led to changes in service.

"Our capacity to run four booths or four injections seats was compromised," said Lester. "We just could not maintain the six feet physical distance. So we actually had to remove two of the injection seats for service users and then the intake area is actually quite small as well.

Fewer seats mean clients now sometimes have to wait for service during busy periods.

In April 2018, MLHU selected a permanent site in the former home of John Bellone music store at 446 York St. At 4,000 square feet, the new site will be able to comfortably serve clients, even with COVID-19 physical distancing rules.

City council passed the necessary rezoning for the site, but a group of local businesses appealed that decision to the province's Local Planning Appeal Tribunal (LPAT).

Last fall, LPAT ruled against the businesses opposed to the York Street location, and they've appealed that decision.

A decision on that appeal was expected on March 23, but COVID-19 struck again, derailing the hearing schedule. It's now expected LPAT will rule on the appeal on June 11 in a tribunal that may be online only.

"I'm hoping that we'll get a decision in our favour and we can move forward," said Lester.

Even then, it won't be the final hurdle. Lester said the site will still need about $1 million in provincial funding to cover the costs of retrofitting.

The health unit had floated the idea of locating another permanent drug use site at 446 York Street inside a London & Middlesex Community Housing building at 241 Simcoe St. Lester says this location is no longer being considered.

Plans for a mobile unit service unit will wait until the zoning issues are settled and the York Street site is set up, Lester said.

"There's just so much more potential once we get out of this location, because it was never designed for what it's doing," said Lester. "We want the program to be the best it can be for our community and for the people we serve."