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As Omicron cases rise, and frustrations mount over access to testing, staff at North Vancouver’s Lloyd Avenue testing site have faced increased harassment by the public, according to Vancouver Coastal Health.
“In recent weeks, as demand for testing has increased, our testing site staff have experienced a significant increase in verbal and, at times, physical harassment from members of the public. This includes staff working at our testing site in North Vancouver,” said a spokesperson from the health authority.
Both on-site security and police have had to be called on occasion to help with threats to staff, according to VCH.
That behaviour is “completely unacceptable” and has caused “significant distress” to staff who are already stretched thin with the strain of increased testing, said the spokesperson.
“We are strongly urging members of the public to remain patient and kind to our staff.”
North Vancouver RCMP have received "a few recent reports of people being rude to staff at the North Vancouver COVID testing site", said Const. Kelly McIntyre, spokesperson for the local detachment. All incidents were investigated and handled informally, said McIntyre, adding no criminal threats, harassment or assaults have been reported, no arrests have been made and no charges have been recommended.
Dr. Bonnie Henry, the province's health officer, Health Minister Adrian Dix, and Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth addressed the harassment in a statement Jan. 5, stating, "We have received reports of health-care workers at COVID-19 testing centres being intimidated, threatened and otherwise verbally harassed by some people seeking tests.
"The Government of B.C. recently brought into force the Access to Services Act to help protect the safety and well-being of health-care workers at testing centres, and impeding services or intimidating workers at these sites is illegal. Incidents of threats and aggressive behaviour will be reported to police. Our health-care workers need a safe and respectful workplace, free of abuse and threats of violence, so they can continue their work to keep us safe."
The reports of staff harassment come as long waits for testing have at times been reported at the testing site over the past month.
A Vancouver Coastal Health website that previously gave approximate wait times at testing sites has since been disabled.
High demand has meant even people who work in high-risk settings like health care and those at risk of severe illness have had delays in getting tested, according to VCH.
The health authority has stated that people who are fully vaccinated and have mild symptoms don’t need to get tested and can just self-isolate at home.
Some people, however, have raised concerns on social media forums about having a record of their COVID infection in the event they experience longer-term symptoms.
Most of those who have symptoms and have visited the North Vancouver testing site in the past month have been handed rapid tests to complete at home.
Those who test positive after a rapid test can go online and register their result with the health authority.
Those results are not included in the daily COVID case counts released by the province, the BC Centre for Disease Control has confirmed. Those numbers only include positive PCR tests.
“In the context of a highly transmissible virus and a highly immunized population, testing and reporting every person infected with COVID-19 is not necessary to control the pandemic or understand how it is impacting our communities,” according to a statement from the BCCDC.
“It’s also important to remember that we have never diagnosed all infections. Throughout the pandemic reported cases represent a subset of all infections,” the BCCDC stated.
“The most important indicator is understanding serious illness and preserving health care capacity.”
As of Tuesday, there were 36,087 active cases of COVID-19 in the province. Of the active cases, 469 people with COVID were in hospital and 97 were in intensive care.
