Some people in B.C. seeking COVID tests say they’re being denied PCRs

People waiting in hours-long lineups for COVID-19 testing in Metro Vancouver are in some cases being denied PCR tests and being handed rapid tests, they say.

While we had previously reported that staff at testing sites were giving this option to people this week, these are the first cases we’ve heard of staff telling people they would not be provided a PCR test.

CityNews has received multiple reports from people that this is happening. One of the people who went through this on Thursday was West Vancouver man Jay Spicer.

His son became very symptomatic on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, the pair went to North Vancouver’s COVID testing site at ICBC.

“His symptoms just came on super quickly … like heavy fever, he slept for it seemed like 20 hours. So I woke him up early, got down there half an hour ahead of when they opened and we were a good eight blocks away I think,” Spicer recalled.

After waiting two hours in line, he says he was offered a rapid test for his son.

“One employee came to the window and offered us the rapid test but told us it was sort of on the condition that if you took the rapid test you had to leave the line,” he explained.

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Noting one of his in-laws, with whom he and his family lives, is undergoing cancer treatment, Spicer says he and his son decided to wait it out, adding they preferred getting a PCR.

Twenty minutes later, another staff member approached his car.

At that point, Spicer says he was told the site was at capacity, and PCR tests for the rest of the day would only be provided to people 65 years old and up. Worried they’d get to the end of the line and not be able to get tested at all, Spicer accepted the rapid test and left.

“I don’t want to make anybody out to be the bad person, especially the poor person handing out the rapid tests,” Spicer told CityNews. “I’m sure people are probably being awful to her having to come and tell them they can’t get tested. I tried with her. I said, ‘hey, you know, when we go home, we rent from my in-laws and my mother in law is a senior. She’s going through cancer treatment.’

“Understandably, the employee said, ‘I’m so sorry, but this is it. This is what I’m told to do.'”

It is our understanding that this is not official Vancouver Coastal Health policy.

Vancouver Coastal Health is promising to provide a statement on this to CityNews at some point on Thursday.

Spicer’s experience is just one of many reports of similar instances on the Lower Mainland in recent days.

https://twitter.com/anngibbon/status/1474130286908567553

Spicer feels for those working at the testing sites, saying he feels they’re understaffed amid the recent high demand for PCRs due to the spread of Omicron.

The North Shore resident, who is a teacher in North Vancouver, says he’s “frustrated on so many levels.”

“It was just really, super frustrating because you wait that long and you get handed a rapid test,” he said of the ordeal. “I think this whole situation could have been averted even a week ago.”

Spicer is hoping officials will clarify messaging, telling CityNews more clear direction needs to be given around testing.

B.C. recorded its highest-ever daily case count this week amid the spread of the Omicron variant.

Vancouver Coastal Health has previously said that between Dec. 6 – 13 it noticed a 69 per cent jump in demand for testing and has been working to address the issue. However, it has said staff and resources have been strained.