Reports

The Brant Community Healthcare System (BCHS) is operating a COVID-19 Assessment Centre. BCHU does not do in-person testing. Please contact the Brant Community Healthcare System to arrange for testing. You can also take a self-assessment to help you decide if you need a test. Please note, the BCHS Assessment Centre will no longer be taking walk-in appointments as of Friday, October 2, 2020. To book an appointment, please follow instructions as set by BCHS.

Effective September 24, Ontarians should only seek testing at assessment centres if they are:

• showing COVID-19 symptoms;
  
• have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by BCHU or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app;
  
• a resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by BCHU; and
• eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

If you meet one of the above criteria, please contact the Brant Community Healthcare System to arrange for testing.

Starting on September 25, you can get tested for COVID-19 at select pharmacies if you are not showing symptoms and eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care.

After you have been tested, please refer to our COVID-19 Post Test Informationsheet.

Long-term care home visits
Please refer to the provincial guidelines for long-term care home visits.

Travel-related testing
Asymptomatic travellers can get tested at select Shoppers Drug Mart locations.

To find a convenient location to obtain a COVID-19 test at an Assessment Centre or Pharmacy please visit the online Ontario COVID-19 testing location. The finder will continue to be updated as additional Assessment Centres and pharmacies rollout.

If you are planning on travelling within Canada, or to the United States, you can book a COVID-19 test at the Brant Community Healthcare System's COVID-19 Assessment Centre.

If you are planning on travelling internationally, please book a COVID-19 test at select Shoppers Drug Mart locations.

Isolation timelines depend on when the person was exposed, if they had symptoms, if they got tested, why they are isolating, and whether they are a close contact or a low-risk contact. The Brant County Health Unit contacts everyone who tests positive and provides them with guidelines for how long they and everyone in their household needs to be isolating.

If someone with symptoms gets tested:

Everyone in the household needs to self-isolate while that person is waiting for their test results.

If you also have symptoms, please complete the Ontario Self-Assessment Tool to determine your next steps. Your child should complete the COVID-19 Screening Tool for Children in School and Child Care.

If the individual tests negative:

• If the individual has symptoms but tests negative, they can stop isolating once they have been symptom-free for 24 hours.  
• Everyone else in the household can stop isolating when the negative result is received.

If the individual tests positive:

• Someone from the Brant County Health Unit will contact the individual and will let them know how long everyone in their household needs to be isolating. The 14 days of isolation for household contacts will be based on the last exposure to the case in the home.

If someone gets tested for an exposure:

If the individual is a close or high risk contact:

• If the individual has been told by the Brant County Health Unit that they are a close or high risk contact, then the Brant County Health Unit Case Manager will let them know when the isolation period for everyone in their household is over.
  

If the individual is a low risk contact:

• If the individual is a low-risk contact or received notification from the COVID Alert App and tests negative, then everyone in their household needs to self-monitor for symptoms for 14 days from which the notification was received and seek re-testing if symptoms develop.

If the individual tests positive:

• Someone from the Brant County Health Unit will contact the individual and will let them know how long everyone in their household needs to be isolating. The 14 days of isolation for household contacts will be based on the last exposure to the case in the home.
  

If you test negative for COVID-19, you did not have detectable virus at the time your sample was collected. This does not mean you will not get sick. It also does not mean that you will not be exposed to, test positive for or become sick with COVID-19 at any time after your test. 

The test result only means that you did not have detectable COVID-19 at the time of testing.

The significance of a positive test if you have never had symptoms is still unknown. You will have to self-isolate for 10 days from your test date and monitor for symptoms as directed by BCHU.

BCHU will conduct case and contact management.