Health officials get asymptomatic COVID-19 tests, as mobile sites underway

Some of Newfoundland and Labrador's top health care officials are leading by example, opting to get asymptomatic COVID-19 testing, while encouraging others on the Avalon Peninsula to do the same.

Eastern Health announced last week that voluntary testing would be opening up for people who are not experiencing symptoms. The authority is offering it in different locations.

Over the last couple of days since the testing was announced, between 1,500 and 1,600 asymptomatic people have been swabbed, said Dr. Janice Fitzgerald during Monday's COVID-19 briefing.

It's a measure intended to help Public Health find out if there are any pockets of COVID-19 not yet discovered from last month's outbreak.

That information could help inform decisions on lifting Alert Level 5 for the Avalon Peninsula, which has put in place Feb. 13at the outset of anoutbreak of coronavirus variant B117 last month,, and is up for review thisFriday.

Among those to get an asymptomatic test over the weekend wasFitzgerald, who tweeted on Sunday that she and her family had been tested the day prior, and had their results back in less than 24 hours.

Fitzgerald encouraged people who had to leave their homes for work to call 811 and set up a test appointment, adding that those who don't have symptoms don't need to isolate for this test.

Also among those tested over the weekend was Yvette Coffey, president of the Registered Nurses' Union of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Why asymptomatic testing now?

At different stagesduring the pandemic, over the past year, Fitzgerald had said asymptomatic testing wasn't the best use of resources,especially if active case counts were relatively low.

Sowhat changed?

"B117," she responded, referencing the variant that caused N.L.'s caseload to soar rapidly in the Eastern Health region in February.

"That's not to say that we will continue to do random asymptomatic testing forever. But there may be situations where this type of testing would be more usefulthan other situations," Fitzgerald said.

While there has been an encouraging decrease in the number of cases in recent days,Fitzgerald said last week that public health officials needed to feel confident the risk community spread has decreased before considering lifting restriction for the Avalon. With the vast majority of cases in the Eastern region, the rest of the province was moved to Alert Level 4 at the end of February.

At the peak of the second outbreak, N.L.'s active cases hit 434 on Feb. 20. As of Monday, the active caseload isdown to 84.

Eastern Health is running polymerase chain reactiontesting centres in Mount Pearl, St. John's, Burin, Harbour Grace and Clarenville as part of the asymptomatic testing effort.

Over the weekend, there was a spike in the number of people tested following the opening of asymptomatic criteria.

Mobile clinics are also being set up in Trepassey, Bonavista, Placentia and downtown St. John's this week.

A health-care worker in Trepassey was one of the confirmed COVID-19 cases last week.

People seeking an asymptomatic test are instructed to book an appointment through the 811 health line or online. When completing an online form, people are advised to select the "I do not have symptoms" option, as well as selection "yes" when asked if they require a test under a Public Health advisory.

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