Faced with the surge in cases and a few days before Christmas, long queues stretched for several kilometers on Wednesday in the greater Montreal area, some waiting for nearly 6 hours.
At the Chauveau screening center, located not far from the Olympic Stadium, the queue was more than 1 km in the early afternoon, Wednesday.
“Anyone who has symptoms and does not have access to a rapid test at home, or who needs proof for their employer, you can go to the screening sites,” said Caroline St. Denis, director of multidisciplinary services at the CIUSSS de l’Est-de-l’Île-de-Montréal.
“Those who have been in contact with a positive patient may come forward. Others are really asking you to wait until you develop symptoms. Don’t show up for a party, a social activity, ”asked Ms. St-Denis.
Stormed like many other screening centers, the one on rue Chauveau has not taken new clients since 4:30 p.m., because it has reached the maximum daily capacity, it was reported.
At the Hôtel-Dieu screening clinic in downtown Montreal, rapid screening tests were given to certain symptomatic people who were waiting in line. Only people who had made an appointment could be tested inside.
In order to relieve the large drop-in screening centers, the health authorities are asking the population to come to local clinics, near their place of residence.
People living, for example, on the South Shore of Montreal cross the bridge to come and get tested in the metropolis.
Even more blatant proof of the high traffic, the Saint-Jérôme drive-thru screening clinic had to be temporarily closed “considering security issues”.
Private clinics
To avoid standing in line in the cold, some Quebecers have preferred to go to private clinics that offer this drive-thru service.
On the South Shore, in the parking lot of the Guzzo cinema, some Quebecers willing to pay between $ 75 and $ 350 to obtain a PCR test from a private clinic, still waited nearly 6 hours on Wednesday.
“We’ve been waiting for five and a half hours to do tests,” said a motorist questioned by VAT News. We don’t have any symptoms, but we have been in contact with someone who does. ”