Local COVID-19 testing centres are working overtime to keep up with demand.
With rising case numbers across the county, there has also been a spike in the number of PCR tests conducted at assessment centres in Sarnia, Wyoming and Grand Bend.
Executive Director at Petrolia's Central Lambton Family Health Team and Co-lead of the Local Assessment Centre Planning Table Sarah Milner, said people are booking multiple appointments at several sites.
She said individuals will go to the earliest booking, and not cancel the others.
"If people aren't going to come for their appointment it's extremely important that they cancel that appointment," said Milner, "People are looking every hour to see if there's openings because of the demand. There's about a 30 per cent daily no-show rate in Sarnia-Lambton, so that's hundreds of spots that people are booking and not showing up for, that other people could be using."
Milner said they're testing five to eight people every 15 minutes.
"So those people that have symptoms and also have been identified by Lambton Public Health as a close contact, those are the people that should be coming in for testing," she said. "For someone that's just curious about whether they might have COVID with no symptoms, maybe they're going to visit a family member or going to some sort of event and just want a test, now is not the time for those people to come through and get tested."
Residents are reminded that Bluewater Health emergency rooms in Sarnia and Petrolia are not COVID-19 testing sites.
To book an appointment for a PCR test, visit Lambton Public Health's website. Tests are also available at four Sarnia pharmacies.
