COVID-19 testing centers in Quebec are being overwhelmed by the latest wave of the pandemic, with long lines to get a test and delayed results as the Omicron variant takes the daily case count to record levels.
The union representing 5,400 laboratory technicians in the province says the recent surge in demand for tests is pushing labs to the limit.
“There is a feeling of despair. Those who are young enough to change careers are doing so, while those who are close to retirement are leaving to enjoy their health, ”said Sandra Étienne, vice president of the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel of the santé et des social services. in an interview on Monday.
Étienne, who works as a biomedical laboratory technician, said that during the pandemic medical technologists have yet to receive the recognition given to nurses, who were offered $ 15,000 in bonuses to prevent them from leaving the public system in the fall.
“They’re reacting like soldiers right now,” Etienne said of the lab techs. “But soldiers asking to be recognized.”
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Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé compared the current COVID-19 situation to a “war” on Monday when he asked that only people with symptoms be tested. Recently, labs have been processing around 40,000 tests per day, peaking at 46,830 on December 15.
“It is a record since the beginning of the pandemic and, unfortunately, it is our maximum capacity,” Dubé said. “Testing centers shouldn’t be a tool for getting tested if you are asymptomatic and want to be reunited with your loved ones.”
Dubé asked people to prioritize rapid tests at home to avoid clogging laboratories. The provincial government has committed to distributing more than 800,000 rapid test kits in the province’s pharmacies before Christmas.
Annie-Claire Fournier, a spokeswoman for the McGill University Health Center, said its labs, which on average analyze 15,000 tests per day, have recently seen an increase of up to 1,000 tests per day.
“Ninety-nine percent of the analyzes are done within 24 hours,” Fournier said in an email. Results are generally shared with patients within 24 to 48 hours, he added.
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However, the sharp increase in demand for tests is causing some delays in results.
For Dominique Primeau, who had been waiting for her results for three days, the delay is a source of stress. He said Tuesday that he began experiencing COVID-19 symptoms on Saturday. He tried to get tested on the south coast of Montreal, but could not find an outpatient clinic.
Next, it tried a self-service test site in Montreal, but it was closed on Saturdays. He went to another clinic, but there was “an endless line” and it closed before he could enter. Primeau said she finally got tested on Sunday, after waking up at 5 a.m. and waiting nearly two hours in the cold.
“It’s never fun to be sick and not know what you have,” Primeau said. “I want to know what kind of vacation I will have. If I have COVID, I have to isolate myself, I have to cancel plans. Is not easy.”
The Primeau experience will not be unique as the test centers reach full capacity. Jean-Nicolas Aubé, a public health spokesman for CIUSSS du Center-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal, one of the city’s largest health authorities, said the authority typically handles 1,500 tests a day, but now it exceeds 2,000.
“It has been a significant increase and it continues,” he said in an interview. “Demand is high, but we will adjust.”
Aubé echoed Dubé’s advice that people should go to testing centers only if they have symptoms.
“People come to get tested because they have a party,” he said. “We heard it, we saw it, we understand it, but now we have to make room for people who have symptoms.”
© 2021 The Canadian Press
Reference-globalnews.ca