A Penticton, B.C., man is raising concerns about delays in COVID-19 testing in the South Okanagan city and how it could contribute to the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Colin MacDermott, a hotel employee, fell ill on Friday, July 17, and immediately contacted 8-1-1.
“Got a major headache, sore throat, and had alittle bit of a temperature,” he said of his flu-like symptoms that he experienced at the time.
The 43-year-old was referred to the Penticton Health Centre, but when he contacted the local health unit, he was informed the next available appointment to get a test was on Wednesday.
MacDermott stayed home and self-isolated for four days before getting tested and now must wait another one to three days for the test result.
He fears the approximately one-week lagtime between getting sick and obtaining his test result could contribute to the spread of the virus if he, in fact, tests positive.
“I do have two or three people that I see relatively regularly and they are asking me ‘do I need to go get tested’? And I say ‘I’ll let you know as soon as I know.”
MacDermott is also off work, without pay, and hopes he will be eligible for the $1,000 B.C. Emergency Benefit available to residents who stopped working because of COVID-19.
However, B.C.’s Ministry of Finance confirmed on Wednesday that only those who are out of work for a minimum of 14 days will qualify for the provincial benefit, which is in line with eligibility criteria for the federal Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB).
“I realize I am in a privileged position. I don’t live paycheque to paycheque, so I’m not hurting badly financially,” he said.
“But I know some of my co-workers, if they went through the same situation, they wouldn’t be able to pay rent and buy groceries if they had to miss a whole week because they got a cold.
He said he doesn’t fault the hard-working healthcare workers, but thinks the system could be improved.
“My question is, does Interior Health need to be putting more resources towards testing now that we are over the first bump? But things are ramping up again, it appears,” he said.
The Interior Health Authority (IHA) says the cluster of cases in Kelowna has “dramatically increased” demand on testing in the Okanagan.
There are now 70 confirmed cases of COVID-19 linked to community exposure in the Kelowna area which began around Canada Day. Many of the patients were visitors to the region and are people in their 20s and 30s, health officials said.
In Kelowna, Interior Health is doing five times the number of tests per week (1,500/week compared to 300 before the most recent case cluster), the health authority said in an email.
In Penticton, the number of tests per week has more than doubled (180/week compared to 80 previously).
Interior Health has increased staffing at the collection centre in Kelowna and moved from being open for four hours of testing per day to 11 hours of testing per day (9:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. daily).
The Penticton centre is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. six days per week and is “actively working to increase their capacity in response to the current surge,” Interior Health said.
“Patients who call to book a test are provided with the earliest time possible, in many cases, it is the same day,” said IHA.
“Where the wait is longer due to the demand for testing, IH is implementing strategies to increase capacity,” he said.
Since mid-June, test turn-around times are the longest in Interior Health compared to any other health region in B.C., according to data collected by the BC Centre for Disease Control.
As of July 20, it takes 35 hours to get lab results in Interior Health, compared to 20 hours in Vancouver Coastal, 18 hours in both Fraser and Northern Health and 16 hours on Vancouver Island.
The provincial average is 22 hours.
Interior Health confirms all Okanagan tests are being analyzed at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
“We have testing that is done here in Kelowna as well as the provincial lab in Vancouver and so we strive to have test results back as soon as possible,” said Dr. Sue Pollock, interim chief medical health officer at Interior Health.
“The minimum time we can expect test results is 24 hours and sometimes it can take a little bit longer,” she added.
Norm Letnick, Kelowna-Lake Country Liberal MLA and opposition health critic, says while he is encouraged about the expansion of testing to meet demand in IHA, he will be raising concerns with his counterpart, B.C.’s minister of health Adrian Dix, in regards to testing delays in smaller communities like Penticton.
“You can be sure that on behalf of the people of Penticton and all of British Columbia, I will be talking to him about COVID-19 and the response that his ministry has had towards addressing issues like testing and turnaround time,” he told Global News.
Interior Health says it is difficult to compare IH’s lab analysis time to other health authorities given its large geographic area serving many rural and remote communities.
“We recognize there are cases where people are waiting longer than they expect, and we know that is stressful. Individuals waiting for test results are asked to stay home and self-isolate,” Interior Health said.