Montreal City Weblog

Kate 07:36 on 2021-09-15 Permalink Reply  

• jeather 08:34 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  A friend just tried to get tested and said the entire experience was miserable. Long lines, no spacing, everyone there coughing on everyone else. The closest place to me allows me to make an appointment to get a test 8 days later. Results are also getting slower and slower.

• Meezly 12:23 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  I wish the article looked more into the why testing is so backed up. If it’s because many people think they can just walk in to get a test and the solution is appointment only, then why isn’t that being communicated?

  And if making an online appointment involves waiting days to get tested, and more days to get a result, then something is wrong with the system and needs to get addressed soon.

  Maybe the government should stop being snowflakes about everyone critiquing their unconstitutional laws and focus instead on protecting their citizens from real threats.

• jeather 13:35 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  It was a very poorly written article, though the upshot (“we don’t have enough testing sites”) is true. If you can’t get a same day appointment, people won’t bother to get appointments. It’s also a real pain to see what sites are open when and the current waits.

  Results are 24-72 hours at this point.

• Dhomas 13:40 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  I had to go get my son tested on Monday. I tried to go at 8h when they opened, but there was a huge lineup and so I decided to come back later (I didn’t want to be TOO late for work). I went again around lunch time and the line was even longer. I finally went again at around 16h and the line was still long, but we waited (he needed to get tested so he can go back to school). It took just under an hour to get processed and out the door. The reason the line was so long is because they were no longer having people mill about inside the building (as they did in the past, when there were fewer people). Instead they had people form lines outside. Most of the people getting tested were parents with young schoolchildren. And yes, they were almost all coughing. It made me appreciate the decision taken to have people lineup outside. This was at the Chauveau testing center, close to l’Assomption metro, so the exact same center they cited in the article.
  I think there is some other bug going around that is not COVID, though. My daughter was terribly sick this weekend and was coughing up some pretty nasty stuff (she and my son go to the same school, so he also needed to get tested or they wouldn’t let him back to class). We were sure it was COVID. She tested negative, though. And so did a bunch of other young kids we know with similar symptoms.
  We got our results about 24h later (even though they said it would take 24 to 72 hours), so my son only missed 1 day of school. Anecdotal evidence tells me the situation might not be as bad as we think in the testing centers. Like I said, people are waiting outside to avoid having many people in an enclosed space. Also, Chauveau is one of the only places on island that offers gargle tests, which are very popular with parents, so that might explain why this site is so packed. More testing centers would definitely help, but also more testing centers offering gargle tests.

• Mark Côté 13:42 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  “Maybe the government should stop being snowflakes about everyone critiquing their unconstitutional laws and focus instead on protecting their citizens from real threats.”

  Dontcha know, those are real threats that the new laws are addressing, according to the government and (looking at the CAQ’s continued popularity) the majority of the Quebec population… so important that the constitution and other fundamental documents have to be left behind. This’ll all end well, I’m sure.

• Kate 13:43 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  dhomas, CBC radio had a clip of one doctor who said other viral respiratory diseases are back in force. I’ve seen a few references to RSV being on the rise.

• jeather 14:01 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  It’s been 24 hours for my friend and no result.

  I wouldn’t be comfortable waiting outside in a large group of people who all think they are sick (of whom about, what 3% have covid) coughing, even though outdoors is safer. I would be even less comfortable if I were bringing my child under 12. And honestly an hour long wait is pretty bad.

  The place on Ste-Croix offers gargle tests too.

• jeather 16:53 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  About 28 hours to get a (negative) result, which is reasonable enough given Quebec has something against letting people use rapid tests.

• SMD 20:10 on 2021-09-15 Permalink

  There are definitely many other viruses going around, including in my house. As this pediatric ER doc put it a few days ago:

  « En réalité, la quatrième vague [à Saint-Justine] n’est pas une vague de COVID, mais de tous les autres virus », explique le Dr Antonio D’Angelo, chef du Département de pédiatrie d’urgence du Centre hospitalier universitaire (CHU) Sainte-Justine.