New COVID-19 testing centres open in Casselman, Cornwall

Two new COVID-19 assessment and testing centres in eastern Ontario are opening Thursday in Casselman and Cornwall.

The new centre in Casselman — a village just east of Ottawa — is a drive-through location at 872 Principle St., the local office of the Eastern Ontario Health Unit.

The testing centre, run in partnership with the Hawkesbury and District General Hospital, will be open between 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday, according to an EOHA news release.

In Cornwall, the new centre is by-appointment only and is located at 850 McConnell Ave.

Anyone wanting to book an appointment at the Cornwall testing centre should call 613-935-7762 between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., Monday to Friday.

A mental health and addiction counsellor will greet people who come to the centre for testing, according to a separate news release.

“We recognize that many in our community are feeling anxiety and stress during this particularly difficult time; we are hopeful that this support will help,” Jeanette Despatie, president and CEO of the Cornwall Community Hospital, said in the statement.

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The Eastern Ontario Health Unit says it’s possible more testing centres in the region may open and that it will notify the public when that happens.

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In both news releases announcing the openings, the health unit’s medical officer of health said officials hope the new centres will “increase access to COVID-19 testing” for eastern Ontario residents “while reducing the strain on 911, EMS, primary care and hospital emergency rooms so that they can focus on urgent care.”

Even so, the health unit said only people with “worsening, but not severe, COVID-19 symptoms” should go to the testing centres and noted that not all patients who visit will get tested for the novel coronavirus.

Health workers will decide whether to test someone based on “symptoms, travel history, and contact history.”

Over in Ottawa, the COVID-19 assessment centre at Brewer Park Arena has been open since March 13.

Since then, more than 5,500 people have been assessed at the centre and about 85 per cent of them were swabbed for testing, a senior Ottawa Hospital director said earlier this week.

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Elsewhere in eastern Ontario, COVID-19 assessment centres have opened in Hawkesbury and Winchester.

Just west of Ottawa, a by-appointment assessment centre open in Almonte on Tuesday. Visits to that centre are by appointed only and referrals are required by a family physician.