COVID testing centres struggling to meet demand, more difficulties expected

Unvaccinated people looking to provide a negative COVID-19 test two days before going to future Saskatchewan Roughriders games or to concerts are facing a tall task.

The CFL’s Roughriders announced earlier this week a new vaccination policy for their Sept. 17 home game, requiring fans to be fully vaccinated or to provide a negative COVID test result within 48 hours of being tested.

With the fourth wave driven by the highly infectious Delta variant taking hold in Saskatchewan, testing centres are having troubles keeping up with demand.

Carrie Dornstauder, the Saskatchewan Health Authority’s (SHA) interim emergency operations centre test strategy chief, said it’s difficult to expand hours or increase staffing levels now that the provincial government has lifted the state of emergency.

“We are already working on that. We’ve been trying for the last several days to meet those demands,” she said Thursday.

In Saskatoon, the drive-thru testing location has had wait times ranging from three to four hours for most of the last two weeks.

As of Thursday afternoon, the drive-thru testing centre in Regina had a wait time of two to three hours according to the SHA’s website.

The SHA has targets of trying to see all booked testing appointments within 24 hours, and 90 minutes for people in line at the drive-thrus.

“We’ve had some changes in the way we’re allowed to staff with the removal of the state of emergency,” Dornstauder said. “The system is very fatigued and our access to new hires or existing staff has been a challenge, most certainly.”

With the system under stress as more organizations opt to make proof of vaccinations mandatory, meeting those already-lofty targets will be impractical.

What about the turnaround?

Getting results in a timely manner is also going to be difficult moving forward.

“It may create an issue, to be honest,” Dornstauder said, adding her office is working with the provincial government to find ways to practically increase testing capacity for those who cannot be vaccinated.

Citing consultations with medical health officers, the Roughriders on Monday became the second-last team in the CFL to institute a vaccination policy.

“In consultations with local medical health officers this past week, they voiced their support to begin requiring proof of vaccination at Roughrider games,” Riders president and CEO Craig Reynolds said earlier this week.

“After speaking with our stakeholders, including the City of Regina — our stadium owner, REAL — our stadium operator, and the CFL we decided that this is the right decision for our club and for our fans.”

With the province’s constant message urging people to get vaccinated and “stick it to COVID,” the unvaccinated population isn’t high on the priority list, at least not at testing centres.

“We have to remember right now we’re heading into this fourth wave and we’ve got a lot of sick people here in the province, so triaging is going to be important,” Dornstauder said. “Events would be a priority down the line.”

Dornstauder and the rest of her staff are putting faith in rapid testing.

A new 24-school pilot project is coming soon from the provincial government to allow children under 12 years old to rapid test for COVID-19 at home.

Dornstauder said the goal is to get rapid testing kits into more homes across the province to lessen the burden on testing centres.

“One of our biggest problems with the biggest testing kits is they come in a case of 25 (units), so we’re working really hard to see how we can continue to mobilize those kits out into the public,” Dornstauder said.

According to Dornstauder, more than 1,000 businesses are using rapid test kits regularly, with many of them sending their results back to the SHA to help improve the system.