Local COVID-19 testing capacity expands
By Cecilia Nasmith
As it continues to provide local COVID-19 screening and assessment service, Northumberland Hills Hospital announces an expansion in partnership with the Northumberland Paramedics that will allow this service to become proactively available to county organizations and groups.
This partnership will result in an outreach that will include on-site testing and support for Alderville First Nation, local long-term-care residences, retirement homes, communal living environments, and other sites as requested.
To accommodate this shift, the centre is now open for virtual screening by telephone from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Weekends. Appointments can be pre-booked following the virtual screening for those who require physical assessment.
In the event that symptoms are severe, the announcement cautioned, call 911 and alert the dispatcher to the potential COVID-19 concern so they can prepare appropriately.
Those directed to the centre for physical assessment will be asked to wash their hands and answer a series of questions immediately inside the entrance to the hospital. Temperature will be taken, and those arriving in latex gloves will be asked to move them prior to completing hand hygiene. All incoming patients will be asked to don a mask.
Visitors are not allowed to accompany the patient – only the individual requiring assessment will be admitted.
Hospital staff within the Assessment centre will complete the screening process and (if deemed appropriate) administer the test – a swab inserted into the throat and nasal passage. It is not painful, but many report brief discomfort. Following the test, patients will be advised of appropriate subsequent steps.
Swabs processed in these tests – remote and in-hospital – are sent for processing to a regional lab. Results are typically available in 24 to 72 hours, and will be shared directly with the patient (either through the health unit, at the province's on-line result portal or from the patient's primary-care physician).
Paramedics chief Bill Detlor said his staff is proud to partner with the hospital to enhance local testing capacity.
“Taking this service into the community, to our long-term-care homes and other vulnerable populations, is consistent with public health direction for people to stay put,” Detlor said in the announcement.
“It is another important step local health-system partners are taking to meet the needs of residents and limit the potential for spread of COVID-19.”
“The collaboration with our community partner to support vulnerable populations within our community is most appreciated, and we look forward to working together with Public Health to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in Northumberland,” NHH president and chief executive officer Linda Davis added.
Opened just one month ago when the first local case was identified, the NHH clinic has had more than 1,064 virtual and in-person connections with concerned individuals and performed more than 277 tests.
Testing is a central component of Ontario's respons to the pandemic, with a recent provincial directive to expand and enhance testing. The NHH clinic, therefore, now encourages patients with both typical and atypical symptoms to reach out for advice and (if appropriate) screening.
These symptoms now include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, nasal congestion, difficulty swallowing, unexplained fatigue, unexplained headache, joint or muscle aches, and the loss of taste or smell.
Individuals who believe they may have had exposure to COVID-19 (either in the community or through travel) and who are experiencing a new or unusual onset of any of these symptoms are asked to contact any of the following for preliminary virtual screening – the NHH COVID-19 Assessment Centre (905-377-7783), the Haliburton Kawartha Pine Ridge District Health Unit (1-866-888-4577 ext. 5020) or Telehealth Ontario (1-866-797-0000). You may also complete the self-screening tool provided on-line by the province.
For the most recent provincial information, including symptoms to watch for and a link to the on-line self-assessment took, visit https://www.ontario.ca/page/2019-novel-coronavirus.
For information on local cases, updated regularly, visit https://www.hkpr.on.ca/
Links to these and other resources are on the NHH dedicated COVID-19 page at https://nhh.ca/covid-19 and the county website at Northumberland.ca/COVID19.
