The Dryden Regional Health Centre is expanding its COVID-19 Assessment Centre in response to an increase in COVID-19 activity in the region.
The new COVID-19 Assessment and Treatment Centre aims to provide clinical services for COVID-19, including testing, diagnosis and treatment to patients experiencing moderate or worsening symptoms without needing to access the emergency department.
The DRHC says if you’re experiencing any mild to moderate symptoms, including sore throat, runny nose, cough or barking cough, fever or chills, shortness of breath, decrease in taste or smell, muscle and joint pain or extreme tiredness, you should call the COVID-19 Clinical Assessment Centre at 807-223-3737.
A clinician will assess your symptoms and provide information on next steps and arrange follow-ups and treatment if required. Patients experiencing severe symptoms, including difficulty breathing, should report to the emergency department or call 911 immediately.
The Assessment and Treatment Centre operates out of the current COVID-19 Assessment Centre at 40 Goodall Street, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Walk-ins are accepted, but it’s recommended that patients call to book an appointment.
The DRHC says those who are eligible for PCR testing can continue to book a test through their test through the assessment centre by phone at the number above, or by emailing assess@drhc.on.ca. Appointments for PCR testing must be booked in advance.
Ontario says people who are eligible for PCR testing include symptomatic people who are:
- Hospitalized patients,
- Patients in emergency departments,
- Patient-facing healthcare workers,
- Staff, residents, essential care providers and visitors in hospitals and high-risk settings,
- Outpatients for whom COVID-19 treatment is being considered,
- Underhoused or homeless,
- People from First Nation, Inuit and Metis communities and those travelling into these communities for work,
- Elementary and secondary students and education staff who received a self-collection kit,
- People on transfer to or from a hospital or high-risk settings,
- High-risk contacts of suspected outbreaks in high-risk settings,
- Individuals with prior approval for out-of-country medical services,
- Asymptomatic testing in hospital, long-term care and other settings.
If you have symptoms of COVID-19, vaccinated individuals and children under the age of 12 are required to self-isolate for five days following the onset of symptoms. Isolation can end after five days if symptoms have improved after 24 hours, and public health measures are followed.
Unvaccinated and partially vaccinated, as well as immunocompromised people, will be required to self-isolate for 10 days. Individuals who work in high-risk settings should not attend work for 10 days from their symptom onset.
All household contacts must also self-isolate for the same duration as the person with symptoms, regardless of their vaccination status. If you don’t live with the positive case and are fully vaccinated with no symptoms, you’re asked to self-monitor for 10 days.