Confusion continues as dozens turned away from COVID-19 testing site

One day before online booking for COVID-19 tests is set to be up-and-running across Ontario, people were still turning up at at leastone Ottawa assessment centre for walk-in tests and then being turned away.

Last week, the province announced it would be transitioning to an online booking system Tuesday, with walk-ins discontinuedSaturday so assessment centres could "reset, deep clean and ensure preparedness" before switching over.

Despite that pronouncement,theBrewer Arena test site was still taking walk-ins Sunday.

That caused confusion amongboth patients and doctorsover whether the city's test sites would also be open Monday, with one Ottawa physician saying people seeking tests simply "don't know what to do."

Ottawa residents lined up outside Brewer Arena for a test even though its not open

4 years ago

Duration 1:24

There was some confusion this morning around assessment centres as they close in preparation to offer appointment-based testing.

It wasn't until Sunday evening that theOttawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce a new group which represents various health care voices across the region announced the main Brewer Arena site would be closed Monday.

In its email, the task force said only the Brewer Arena site operated by CHEO, the children's hospital serving eastern Ontario, and the Coventry Road drive-thru site would be open Monday for people with appointments.

Dozens of adults still showed up at the Brewer siteMonday morning, unaware of the closure. Some waited at least an hour before finding out from employees at the centre.

'Inconvenience, disappointment'

"I don't know what to do," said Cedric Ky, who is supposed to fly to Ghana on Friday to see his father.

Instead of getting a test, Ky was turned away.

"Now I have to figure out how I'm going to get my test done," he said.

Josephine Ngahimo showed up at the assessment centre at 7 a.m. with camping chairs in hand to help get her parents tested, as they'd beenin contact with someone who hadtested positive for COVID-19.

They waited an hour in the rain before being told the site was closed.

"It's just an inconvenience, [a] disappointment, but I cannot do much about it," she said.

Ngahimo said sheknew the province was moving to an online booking systemTuesday, but said she didn't know the Brewer site wasn't taking walk-ins Monday.

Christian Cantinalso tried and failed to get a test Monday.

He said he's already takenfour days off work after his roommate started experiencing symptoms, and any more time off would be problematic.

"I was kind of disappointed that I couldn't get tested today," he said. "Because I wanted to get things on the move."

Testing backlog

The province has also said that by giving some assessment centres ashort break,Ontario'slabs wouldbe able to work through the roughly 68,000-strong backlog of unprocessed COVID-19 tests.

Health Minister Christine Elliott told a news conference Monday that she imagined the Brewer site had stayed open on the weekend because there were people who "needed to be tested immediately."

"You have a rule, but if there's someone there that has significant symptoms and needs to be tested, [then] they made the accommodation to do that," said Elliott.

"[That's]in the interests of everyone's health and safety."