The drive-thru COVID-19 testing clinic in Kitchener returned to active duty on Thursday after a day’s hiatus due to safety concerns.
The clinic, which was accepting walk-ins and drive-ups before, is now operating by appointment only, according to Grand River Hospital (GRH).
Those who wish to book an appointment must go to a newly established registration website.
The drive-thru was initially intended to test around 350 people per day but over the past week, it had been testing between 550 and 650 people per day. It is unclear how many will be tested daily under the new system.
The overflow in testing continues as it was full as of 9:30 a.m. on Thursday. The portal says it will open again on Friday morning at 7 a.m. for new clients.
The testing clinic was closed after an hour on Thursday due to safety issues, according to GRH’s Cheryl Evans.
The first person had lined up for testing at 2:30 a.m. and the line grew from there, with the testing centre reaching capacity by the time it had opened at 7:30 a.m., Evans confirmed. Within an hour, the decision was made to pull the plug for the day.
There were also some unruly people who were causing issues as well.
“We had to protect our staff from some fairly aggressive behaviours and, you know, the safety of our staff and the residents who are being tested come first,” Evans said.