1 in 10 positive for COVID-19 in Vancouver Coastal Health, says health minister

About one in 10 people who are tested for COVID-19 in the Vancouver Coastal Health region are positive for the virus, according to B.C.’s health minister.

Adrian Dix spoke with CityNews Thursday morning, as once again hours-long lineups were reported at the St. Vincent testing site in Vancouver on Heather Street and 33rd Avenue.

He says before Omicron, the region was well under two per cent as a seven-day-rolling average. That number has since risen to close to 10 per cent.

The reality of the current surge is being reflected in those long lines. “There’s a lot of anxiety out there, and then there’s a lot of people who are really sick,” Dix said.

The province has received heavy criticism for not opening more testing sites in recent weeks since the Omicron variant began spreading in communities.

WATCH: Massive line-ups were once again reported at COVID-19 testing sites throughout Metro Vancouver to start the week. @KierJunos has more. https://t.co/WKi3bSEo0d (reposting with correction) pic.twitter.com/ApXOg1s1qX

— CityNews Vancouver (@CityNewsVAN) December 21, 2021

On Wednesday, B.C. reported its highest daily COVID-19 case total ever with 1,528, the majority of which were in the Vancouver Coastal Health region. It did not update the number of Omicron cases, but Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry warned at some point everyone will likely be exposed to it.

“Some people have said, ‘well you aren’t seeing hospitalizations go up this week’ and that’s true. But the reason we took the extraordinary decision to cancel all non-urgent surgeries in January is because we know it’s coming,” Dix said of the grim forecast for the post-holiday season.

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

Dix says provincially, they are trying to ease pressure on the health system by expanding rapid testing, cancelling surgeries, and sending out hundreds of thousands of booster vaccination invitations.

But he admits it’s a challenge to expand vaccinations and contact trace at the same time.

“We have been all in. And the challenge with that is the people doing that work are human beings. There is always going to be criticism but you can’t conjure people, these are real people with real training required to do this work,” Dix said, adding the number of active cases has increased about three times.

Where are the tests?

B.C.’s health minister says the province has the capacity for 21,000 tests per day and the province is supplementing and supporting testing through rapid tests. However, the number of those tests available right now is not enough for everyone.

“We are making them more widely available. But understand that the federal government which has been in charge of procurement for this, we’ve gone out and procured our own by the way, but they said they are going to get 84 million tests in January and the beginning part of February. Well there’s fifty million people in Canada… that’s less than two per person. So what we need to do… is use them as effectively as we can,” Dix said about the focus on long-term care and other vulnerable communities.

A large percentage will be reserved to support the school system as well, which has also long called for rapid tests in the classroom.

“We are responding in every possible way to this,” Dix said, appealing for people to follow public health orders to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Symptomatic people left waiting for hours 

Andre El-Baba has been feeling sick with a sore throat and wanted to get tested before putting his vulnerable loved ones at risk.

He arrived nearly an hour before the COVID-19 testing site in Vancouver opened on Thursday but was discouraged when he saw the line.

9:03 – Latest image from the @CityofVancouver of traffic along Cambie St at 33rd Ave to the #COVID19 testing site (Heather St at 33rd Ave) The two SB right lanes on Cambie are dedicated to people lining up. #1130Traffic @CityNewsVAN link for wait times https://t.co/wKmV7heK0B pic.twitter.com/iG1ILv2yNa

— Ryan Lidemark ???? ????️ (@RyanLmark) December 23, 2021

“I left because it’s ridiculous. It’s been on the news about how long the lineups are – like five hours long, and obviously [COVID] rates are going up. I don’t understand why nothing’s been done. You can’t get a rapid test anywhere but we have stock piles of them. You see other provinces handing them out, I don’t understand what the issue is,” El-Baba said.

Find the latest wait times

Vancouver Coastal Health says in an email to CityNews that, “people seeking testing services at some VCH testing sites are first offered a rapid test or a take-home saline gargle test to determine if they are likely to have contracted the virus.”

But many, including El-Baba, question why the tests aren’t widely available without waiting in line in the first place.

“If people are waiting in these huge lines, why don’t you just give them a rapid test and send them on their way? She’s saying that they came in boxes of 25 well hand out a little baggie to everybody so they can test themselves in their car, it takes 15 minutes,” he asked.

Dix says the province is concerned that passing out the tests at random will leave B.C. with no tests when it will likely need them the most.

“They essentially gave them away in Ontario on a Friday until they ran out of them and then they stopped giving them away,” Dix said.

For El-Baba, he says he’s going to self-isolate and is hoping a friend is able to drop off a rapid test they get from their work.

Outside Vancouver, lineups are just as bad

The lineup at North Vancouver’s sole testing site has also been seeing high demand. As of Thursday at 9 a.m., the lineup was an estimated two hours and 45 minutes.

North Vancouver is the third highest for total COVID-19 cases between Dec. 13 – 19, after Surrey and Greater Victoria.

The Howe Sound area, which stretches from Lions Bay to Lillooet and includes Whistler, has seen a significant jump in new infections.

As of Dec. 18, there were 125 cases, the highest the region has seen in months.

A map from the BCCDC of the current COVID-19 cases in the province as Omicron surges in several communities. (Courtesy BCCDC)

The Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice posted on Facebook regarding the “unprecedented numbers” at the testing site and is reminding patients that testing is for symptomatic patients only.

The Squamish Clinic testing site has also seen high demand for COVID-19 tests as the community is experiencing a surge in cases in recent weeks. (Courtesy Facebook/Sea to Sky Division of Family Practice)

The testing site will be closed over the Christmas weekend.