Vancouver Coastal Health closing COVID-19 test site on UBC campus 1 month after it opened
A COVID-19 testing site that first opened on Christmas Eve to help meet the surging demand for tests in Vancouver during the early stages of the Omicron wave is shutting down.
The testing facility at UBC's Life Sciences Centre will close on Jan. 27, according to a news release from Vancouver Coastal Health.
The health authority said the site was established as "a temporary testing location on Dec. 24 to support other Vancouver-based sites from late December through to January."
When it first announced the site in December, Vancouver Coastal Health did not describe the facility as temporary. A UBC news release from the time, however, indicated that it would operate until Jan. 28.
At the time, the Omicron variant had overwhelmed B.C.'s capacity to administer a PCR test to everyone in the province with COVID-19 symptoms. Rapid tests were being offered to people under age 65, but testing for otherwise healthy people in that age group was not recommended.
When it opened, the UBC test site offered only rapid tests, reflecting the recent change.
Since then, the province has further restricted testing. B.C. now recommends testing only for the unvaccinated, the immunocompromised and people who live or work in certain high-risk settings, and then only when such individuals have symptoms.
The changes to testing eligibility have eased the pressure on B.C.'s testing system, which conducted 10,940 tests on Wednesday, according to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
The system's maximum capacity, according to health officials, is roughly 20,000 tests.
"VCH continues to offer a variety of COVID-19 testing options in Vancouver for those who are eligible for testing," the health authority said in its statement Wednesday.
"Anyone who is eligible to get tested can attend any VCH testing site without an appointment. A list of testing site locations is available on the BCCDC website."
Vancouver Coastal Health thanked frontline workers and UBC leadership for helping to "rapidly mobilize" the testing site at the Life Sciences Centre.
"VCH remains committed to ensuring those at higher risk of serious illness, or those who live or work in high-risk settings continue to receive low-barrier access to testing services," the health authority said.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Parliamentary report on Emergencies Act decision is 18 months past due — and counting
The erstwhile group of senators and MPs studying the federal government's invocation of the Emergencies Act over the "Freedom Convoy" was supposed to present its findings in December. December of 2022, that is.
Grandparents killed in wrong-way crash on Hwy. 401 identified
A 60-year-old man and a 55-year-old woman killed in a wrong-way crash on Highway 401 earlier this week have been identified by the Consulate General of India in Toronto.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
A candidate for Germany's key party was beaten up while campaigning for European elections
A candidate for Chancellor Olaf Scholz's center-left party in next month's election for the European Parliament was beaten up and seriously injured while campaigning in an eastern city, the party said Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.