Another pop-up clinic has opened up on Vancouver Island for residents to get screened for COVID-19.
The need for more clinics on the Island is pressing as Island Health continues to work with the Ministry of Health and BC Centre for Disease Control to evolve with the changing landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The purpose of the screening clinic is to administer tests on those whom health officials deem a high priority.
The referral-only clinic will be located in Nanaimo and be available for appointments beginning on Wednesday, March 18.
In a press release, Island Health is urging people not to call or attend the clinic in Nanaimo, or the one setup in Victoria, unless referred by a primary care provider or an 8-1-1 nurse. Priority testing will be given to people who meet a set of criteria.
That criteria includes people with respiratory systems that are hospitalized, health care workers, residents of a care facility, or have been part of an investigation of an outbreak.
For everyone else who feels they might be experiencing symptoms, Island Health is pointing to using the newly created online assessment tool in order to have questions answered further.
“People living in a region with a screening clinic who are assessed as meeting testing criteria and requiring follow-up will be directed to call their local screening clinic,” Island Health said in their release. “A triage nurse at the clinic will then assess referred patients over the phone to determine if an appointment for testing is needed.”
According to the release from Island Health, the organization is “actively working to open more COVID-19 referral-only screening clinics across Vancouver Island in the coming days.”
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