Sault Area Hospital announced that beginning today, all children over the age of three months, who require a COVID test, will be swabbed at the assessment centre. Full text of the release follows:
Beginning today (December 20, 2021), all children over the age of 3 months who require a COVID-19 test will be swabbed at the Assessment Centre. Previously, all children under the age of 2 were tested for COVID-19 through SAH’s Emergency Department.
Staff at the Assessment Centre are qualified to perform pediatric COVID-19 testing. This new process will decrease the volume of patients attending the Emergency Department and, the turnaround time for results will be approximately 12-24 hours through SAH’s laboratory.
COVID-19 test appointments can be booked online.
Testing for COVID-19 through the Assessment Centre is open to any individual 3 months of age or over who:
• does not have symptoms but are concerned they have been exposed to COVID-19
• does not have symptoms but are at risk of exposure to COVID-19
• has any symptoms consistent with COVID-19 (even mild ones)
• does not meet the above criteria but were referred for testing by a health care agency such as 9-1-1, Telehealth, Algoma Public Health, their primary care provider or Occupational health department
Children under the age of 3 months will continue to be swabbed through the hospital’s Emergency Department. As always, if your child is sick and needs to be evaluated by a physician, please contact their primary care provider or go to SAH’s Emergency Department.
SAH continues to make improvements to COVID-19 testing and is dedicated to ensuring the safety of all those we serve. More information is available on our website.