Ottawa's COVID-19 testing sites preparing for Omicron surge
CTV
With new testing guidelines in the face of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the Ottawa COVID-19 Testing Taskforce says it is preparing for a surge in demand for tests.
In a bulletin Monday, the taskforce said Ottawa's testing centres and laboratories are feeling the impacts of a growing case count. The number of active COVID-19 cases in Ottawa jumped to 733 on Monday from 663 on Sunday. Last Monday, OPH had reported 431 active cases in its daily snapshot report.
"While the Taskforce has always strived to ensure seamless access to COVID-19 testing, that level of service will unfortunately be challenged over the coming weeks for a number of reasons," the bulletin said.
Principal among these reasons is the requirement for high-risk contacts of suspected Omicron cases to seek testing immediately, rather than seven days since their last contact.
"That means in addition to the surge of symptomatic people and community outbreaks, even more people will be seeking COVID-19 testing," the taskforce said.
