Updated Eligibility for PCR Testing at COVID-19 Assessment Centre
December 31, 2021 – In response to the rapidly spreading and highly transmissible Omicron variant, the Ontario government, in consultation with the Chief Medical Officer of Health, is updating its COVID-19 testing guidelines.
Effective December 31, 2021, testing at the COVID-19 Assessment Center will only be provided for individuals three (3) months of age or older if they belong to the following groups:
- Symptomatic people who fall into one of the following groups:
- Patient-facing health care workers
- Staff, residents, essential care providers, and visitors in hospitals and congregate living settings, including long-term care, retirement homes, First Nation elder care lodges, group homes, shelters, hospices, temporary foreign worker settings, and correctional institutions
- Symptomatic outpatients for whom COVID-19 treatment is being considered
- Symptomatic people who are under-housed or homeless
- Symptomatic elementary and secondary students and education staff who have received a PCR self-collection kit through their school
- Symptomatic/asymptomatic people who are from First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities and individuals travelling into these communities for work
- Symptomatic/asymptomatic people on admission/transfer to or from hospital or congregate living setting
- High-risk contacts and asymptomatic/symptomatic people in the context of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in highest risk settings, including hospitals, long-term care, retirement homes, other congregate living settings and institutions, and other settings as directed by the local public health unit
- Individuals, and one accompanying caregiver, with written prior approval for out-of-country medical services from the General Manager, OHIP
- Asymptomatic testing in hospital, long-term care, retirement homes and other congregate living settings and Institutions as per provincial guidance and/or Directives, or as directed by public health units
You will be screened by phone before your appointment. If you do not meet the criteria for a test, your appointment will be cancelled.
Click here to book an appointment for a COVID-19 test.
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