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home / 世界杯决赛2022

lack of covid testing in ottawa has pediatricians worried about impact on ability to see patients

"the ability of a sick child to be tested for covid-19 is foundational to the ability of primary care providers to see that child in their offices."

by elizabeth payne

dec 22 2021
read time 3 minute read
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ottawa pediatricians say the lack covid-19 testing in the city will make it difficult for them to see patients in coming days, putting further pressure on already strained hospitals and families.
“it is going to add to the stress of families accessing care,” said dr. andrzej rochowski, chief of pediatrics at queensway carleton hospital.
ottawa health officials said this week that the city’s lab-based pcr testing system is overwhelmed and access will have to be restricted. testing will be prioritized to make sure health and essential workers can have quick access to pcr tests and results in order to keep the health system functioning. that means many people will be unable to get tests.
students were given rapid antigen tests to take home over the break, but those are considered less sensitive than pcr tests. previously, a pcr test was required to confirm covid-19.
rochowski and pediatrician dr. jane liddle,  members of the ottawa community pediatricians network, said they are worried about the impact that lack of testing will have on their patients and the health system.
more people are being asked to rely on rapid testing — if they can get one — or to assume their symptoms are covid-19 and to isolate at home.
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rochowski and liddle said they both understand the testing system cannot cope with the volumes it is now seeing.
“they are working at 200 per cent. when you hit capacity, you hit capacity,” rochowski said.
covid-19 cases are expected to reach historic highs in ottawa and across the province in the coming days as the highly contagious omicron variant drives exponential growth of the virus. modelling from 613covid.ca, which looks at ottawa numbers, is predicting daily case counts close to 3,400 in the city by the end of this year. that is about 10 times recent high daily case counts.
this week, ontario’s chief medical officer of health dr. kieran moore said ontario would see record high daily case counts soon. ontario’s science advisory table modelling predicts as many as 10,000 cases a day in coming weeks. on wednesday, there were more than 4,300 new cases reported in ontario.
keeping accurate track of numbers will get more difficult in coming days as ottawa and other hard-hit communities struggle to keep up with testing and more cases are not officially counted.
rochowski and liddle said the spillover affect of that would be tough on children and families.
many community pediatricians in smaller practices can’t risk having covid positive patients in their offices, which may not be well ventilated and have limited space.
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“the ability of a sick child to be tested for covid-19 is foundational to the ability of primary care providers to see that child in their offices,” rochowski said.
“without the ability to test, this puts a severe brake on how many patients we see.”
he would be unable to work as chief of pediatrics at queensway carleton hospital if he came in close contact with a covid positive patient or family member, further hampering the health system. other patients would also be put at risk.
he and liddle say it is imperative that people follow public health orders stringently and limit contacts in order to blunt the wave, allowing testing to be offered more widely.
the pediatricians said they fear many families with concerns about their children’s conditions will go to emergency departments for reassurance. others will be less likely to isolate without a pcr test confirmation.
liddle said families should respect symptoms and assume it is not “just a cold,” but covid-19.
“we have to get families to understand that isolation isn’t meant as a penalty, it is a necessity. it is meant to be protection for all.”
she also said most mild symptoms can be managed at home and having a fever is not necessarily a bad thing.

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if a child is eating and drinking normally, it can be managed at home and doesn’t require an emergency visit. even post-viral coughing does not usually require emergency care. but difficulty breathing, lethargy and refusing fluids are all reasons the child might need to see someone more urgently.
physicians will continue seeing patients virtually and still see some in person, but that is becoming more difficult. both rochowski and liddle say their practices were getting close to returning to normal when omicron changed the landscape.
“we are not closing our shops, we will continue to work,” rochowski said. “we just have to find a different way to do it.”
elizabeth payne
elizabeth payne

elizabeth payne is an award winning health journalist whose stories became must-reads during the covid-19 pandemic and beyond.

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