A positive development in the COVID-19 pandemic as assessment and care centres are set to close their doors in Niagara.
Niagara Health’s COVID-19 Assessment Centre and COVID, Cold and Flu Care Clinics (CCFCC) will permanently close on Friday.
COVID-19 testing will still be available at select pharmacies across the region, and prescriptions for Paxlovid will continue to be available through family doctors and pharmacies.
Remdesivir infusion therapy, which aids in treating COVID-19, will be available in the community as well.
The first assessment centre in Niagara opened on March 17, 2020 at the Niagara Falls hospital.
More than 327,000 swabs were conducted at the clinic.
The centres served as the primary screening and testing locations for COVID-19 in the region.
The Niagara Falls centre is the final of the three to close.
“Working with our partners, we also opened an additional temporary location in Niagara Falls to test hospitality and tourism sector workers,” says Zeau Ismail, Director, Interprofessional Practice, Research and Education; Director Lead, COVID-19 Assessment Centre and COVID, Cold and Flu Care Clinic.
“Community healthcare professionals, including family physicians, stepped up to work at these centres, in addition to a number of redeployed hospital staff and physicians.”