COVID-19 results take longer in Fraser Health without internal testing capacity
Posted March 30, 2020 5:23 pm.
Last Updated March 30, 2020 8:25 pm.
SURREY (NEWS 1130) — Quickly identifying new cases of COVID-19 is difficult in the Fraser Health region which doesn’t have it’s own dedicated testing facility.
Dr. Victoria Lee, the president and CEO of Fraser Health Authority, says planning continues to set one up.
“We’re looking at that even as we speak.”
For now, anyone suspected of having the virus must wait for results from the BC Centre for Disease Control.
“There are health authorities that don’t have internal capacity, so Fraser Health is one. The investments in terms of infrastructure, they were made some time ago,” Lee says.
She adds it would take too much time to set up internal testing.
“We did also look at getting our own infrastructure and, given the timelines, it would take some weeks for us to get PCR-testing up and running.”
She adds, even though COVID-19 kits must be sent to the BCCDC, Fraser Health is capable of processing thousands of other tests.
“We are taking a good chunk of provincial testing. We have about 12,000 tests that have been conducted in our setting and have committed to returning those results in 24 hours.”
Northern Health is the only other region without internal testing, but the confirmed case count there as of 3 p.m. Monday is only 14.
The Fraser Health region extends from Burnaby to White Rock and even out to Hope and services more than 1.8 million people, according to its website.
Meanwhile, the same day Health Minister Adrian Dix confirmed a shipment of a million surgical masks has arrived, work continues to preserve current hospital supples.
Dr. Lee says that’s why many care facilities have been forced to lock up personal protective equipment.
“Of course, it’s very disturbing if there’s any theft, as well as inappropriate utilization. That’s why we put a lot of effort into ensuring that we’re protecting those supplies to ensure necessary supplies are available for people to use when they’re needed.”
She tells NEWS 1130 there’s currently no shortage of supplies needed to make sure staff are safe.
“So, with all of those supplies, of course, now we’re very comfortable with where we’re at and we also work with our community partners that have been very, very kind and generous with their donations.”
She adds some thefts are being investigated.
“Some of those thefts or concerns have been reported, so we have followed up with those, as well.”
On Monday, the health minister admitted global supply shortages are making it difficult to order more stock.
