Drive-thru COVID-19 assessment centre still critical says Ottawa health official as NAC site opens
Posted Nov 19, 2020 05:37:08 PM.
Ottawa health officials are reinforcing the importance of keeping a drive-thru COVID-19 testing site operating in the city after the Coventry Road site needed to be abandoned.
As a new COVID-19 drive-thru assessment centre opens at the National Art Centre (NAC), Thursday, November 19, the former manager of the Coventry Road centre Kevin Thomas says it's quick and easy, and it allows people to stay in their cars.
“The difference in our model is people can stay in their environment, I think it allow for a less anxiety inducing test.”
He explains, Coventry Road was simply not going to work during the winter.
“Coventry was a tent in a parking lot, it quickly became clear it just wouldn't cut it,” he says. “We needed to find somewhere we could keep our patients and staff warm, dry and safe.”
Ottawa's new drive-thru centre will now technically be operating out of two locations; Thomas says patients must first arrive at the P1 garage at City Hall to confirm they registered for an appointment, and then they must drive to the NAC's garage to get the actual test. As a result, this new model may lengthen the process for completing a test.
“From arrival to departure, we got Coventry down to about five minutes,” says Thomas. “We hope to achieve something similar here, but we have to appreciate that we've split up into two locations.”
The Coventry Road testing centre was able to do about 300 tests a day, they expect to be able to complete close to the same amount at the NAC.
The NAC's testing centre will be open seven days a week, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
