Pop-up COVID-19 testing site coming to Gananoque on Monday

The town of Gananoque is set to open a pop-up COVID-19 testing site on Monday.

The testing site will be held in the parking lot of the Lou Jeffries Thousand Islands Recreation Centre from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Mayor Ted Lojko said it’s something small towns have been pushing for.

“People are asked to come up Herbert Street along Garden Avenue and line-up there, and then the EMS and the public health will be testing people in their cars,” Lojko said.

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Anyone attending the pop-up is asked to bring a mask, health card and driver’s licence — and patience, Lojko said.

“There may be a line — and you may have to wait a bit — but I think the sooner people get tested and the sooner the public basically participates in the process, the sooner we can get this COVID-19 under control.”

The pop-up testing clinic moves to Prescott on Tuesday.

Another way to keep things under control is keeping the Canada-U.S. border closed, said Lojko, who is a member of the 23 border town mayor’s group. Bridges like the Thousand Island Bridge should remain closed, he added.

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“Right now, it’s a little bit of pain because we don’t have the tourists coming in from the states, but in the long run, it will safeguard this thing being prolonged and safeguard the amount of expenditures that the federal and the provincial governments will have to undertake.”