Montreal's new clinic boosts testing, but turns away more than 1,000 who don't meet criteria

A new walk-in clinic to test for COVID-19 opened Monday morning in downtown Montreal, housed in outdoor tents set up on the grounds of the Place des Festivals.

The space, normally used to host the MontrealJazz Festival and other events during the summer months, has now become a testing centre for the novel coronavirus.

The testing centre has 30 screening stations and 300 staff.

"I can assure you we have a team which is extremely motivated and happy to be here to respond to the needs of the Montreal population for screening," said Genevive Alary, the nurse in charge of the clinic.

People don't need an appointment to go to the clinic, but they do need to meet at least one of the criteriafrom the contact section, and one from the symptomsection(Thelist ishere, in French).

Contact criteria:

• Any person who has traveled outside Canada:
  • who has re-entered the country since March 1,OR
  • who has had symptoms over the past 14 days,OR
  • who has gone out to one of the public spaces targeted by public health officials(see the listhere).
• Any person who has been in close contact with someone whois under investigation or is a confirmed case of COVID 19,OR
• Any person that has received the directive to stay home under voluntary isolation.

Clinical criteria:

• Any person who has been in close contact with a traveller who has one or many symptoms,OR
• Any person who has had one of the following symptoms:
  • Fever or chills,OR
  • Cough,OR
  • Difficulty breathing that began:
    • During your trip OR in the 14 days following your return.
    • In the 14 days following any possible contamination.

Jean-Nicolas Aub, a spokesperson for the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'le-de-Montral, acknowledgedthe criteria had been changed since first being announced Sunday.

Those who don't meet the criteria will be turned away atthe triage phase, soAlary stressed that people should understand the criteria before showing up.

On Monday, the first day of testing at the new facility,3,658 people linedup outside the tent.Of those, 2,172 were tested but 1,486 others were turned away for not meeting the criteria to be tested.

Those who meet the criteria areregistered in heated tentsandwait their turn to be tested. Once the test is done, people are being sent home and told to wait for results.

People began lining up, both in cars and on foot, for the clinic's opening early Monday. Police were on hand to ensure people kept a safe distance apart from one another.

The lineupsvaried Monday, with a few hundred people present at opening, lower numbers around middayand an increase in the afternoon, when a queue of cars stretchedalong De Maisonneuve Boulevard and up St-Denis Street.

McGill graduate student Rine Vieth came shortlyafter 8 a.m. and said the queue was quite long, but it moved quickly and people were in relatively good spirits.

"Everyone was honestly in a pretty good mood," Vieth said.

As an international student, Vieth doesn't have a Quebec health card but was able to use a passport as identification.

After the testing process, Vieth said it looked like the line had become considerably shorter.

Patricia Garvey, who came by car around midday, said she thought the process "would be crazy" but found itto be "super quick."

Garvey said her grandmother was one of the four Quebecers who have died from the virus.

"This is no joke," she said.

Here's what happens at the new COVID-19 clinic

4 years ago

Duration 1:14

Patient explains how testing works at Montreal's new Place des Festivals site.

The site will increase the city's capacity to testto between 2,000 and 2,500 people per day, the regional health authority said.

"The main objective is to augment the quantity, the numbers of tests that we can do. That's the main objective," said Marie-France Coutu, a spokesperson for the CIUSSS.

The clinic will be open seven days a week, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. People are asked to bring their Quebec health care card or, if they don't have one, avalid piece of ID.

Further details are available on the health authority's website.