Nova Scotia announces faster COVID-19 testing
Posted Oct 1, 2020 03:52:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The province is promising to deliver faster COVID-19 testing for Nova Scotians.
Premier Stephen McNeil and chief medical officer of health Dr. Robert Strang made the announcement Thursday in a news release, which says Nova Scotians are now being directed to use a new online COVID-19 self-assessment tool instead of calling 811.
“With school resuming and other parts of Canada seeing a second wave of COVID-19, we are increasing our capacity to test people with symptoms more quickly to make sure we detect and manage cases,” McNeil says in the release. “Our first step is a new online COVID-19 self-assessment tool, which will dramatically reduce the wait time for screening.”
Government says the new online tool will reduce the wait time from 12 hours to about 10 minutes.
Public Health will contact Nova Scotians directly to book an appointment within 24-48 hours if the online assessment determines a test is required.
“It is reasonable to expect a resurgence of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia and the improvements we're making in our testing process will help us be prepared for it,” Dr. Strang says in the release. “We can minimize any resurgence by continuing to follow all the public health measures to keep COVID-19 out of our communities as much as possible.”
People who can't access the online tool, or who want to speak with a nurse about their symptoms will still be able to call 811.
