A spike in demand for COVID-19 testing has prompted the Fraser Health Authority to put extra resources in place at Burnaby’s drive-thru testing site at Central Park.
“Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have ensured assessment and testing is available to every person in our region who needs it,” Fraser Health president and CEO Dr. Victoria Lee said in a press release. “We closely monitor volumes and are responding to what we are seeing across our region."
The health authority has already established greeters at the Burnaby testing centre to manage line-ups and make sure only people with symptoms are being assessed and tested.
Fraser Health has also established new, extended operating hours at the centre from noon to 8:30 p.m., seven days a week.
In the coming days and weeks, the health authority said it will also increase testing capacity by opening two more drive-thru lanes at the Central Park facility.
The enhancements in Burnaby are among a number of changes Fraser Health is making at its 10 different COVID-19 testing sites across the region.
Fraser Health said it is working towards increasing efficiency by standardizing service delivery and data collection across all its sites.
It’s also working on a system for centralizing pre-booking and pre-registration for COVID-19 assessment and testing, according to the release.
“This new model is currently in development and will provide people with telephone and online access to book appointments and access user-friendly information about assessment and testing centre wait times,” stated the release.
B.C.’s deputy provincial health officer Dr. Réka Gustafson confirmed Monday that health authorities have seen a “rapid increase” in demand for testing over the last few weeks.
“We’re seeing some delay in the ramp-up of that capacity,” Gustafson said at a press conference, “but I can tell you all health authorities are working very hard to make sure that that capacity is there and that people can receive the test when they need it.”
Health Minister Adrian Dix said the number of tests in the province has surged from between 1,500 and 2,000 a day to about 3,500 a day over the past weekend.
“That number’s increased because there’s been more concern and more demand in the last number of weeks," he said, "and we’re able to respond to meet that – and we will.”
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
Email cnaylor@burnabynow.com
