WINDSOR, ONT. -- Windsor Regional Hospital is reducing the hours at one of its COVID-19 assessment centres due to consistently lower volumes of individuals seeking tests for the virus.

As of Monday, Feb. 1, the hours at the Met Campus COVID-19 Assessment Centre will be 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays only.

Hours at the Ouellette Campus COVID-19 Assessment Centre will remain unchanged at 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.

WRH has periodically adjusted the hours of the assessment centres since the start of the pandemic to reflect recent demand trends – expanding them to ensure same-day appointments can be made, as well as lowering them when possible to preserve human resources.

After this weekend (Jan. 30-31) only the Ouellette Campus COVID-19 Assessment Centre will be open for weekend appointments.

Even with the reduced hours, WRH anticipates that same-day and next-day appointments will remain available. The hospital can readjust assessment centre hours if there is a change in demand for testing.

WRH’s busiest day for testing in 2021 was on Jan. 11, when 631 individuals received swab tests for COVID-19. Total daily numbers have not surpassed 500 tests since Jan. 18, and have been under 400 tests every day since then.

“The consistently lower numbers of those seeking tests, alongside fewer individuals testing positive for COVID-19 in recent days as reported by the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, provides some evidence that recent lockdown measures in our community are having a positive impact in reducing viral transmission,” said Dr. Wassim Saad, WRH’s Chief of Staff.

“We remain cautiously optimistic that this trend could continue, but we also ask that our community continues to follow recommended guidelines to reduce the spread of the virus. In the meantime, if you encounter symptoms of COVID-19, we encourage you to seek out a test at our COVID-19 Assessment Centres to prevent the spread of viral transmission to friends, family and colleagues.”

In order to schedule a COVID-19 assessment appointment at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre of either campus, you can go online on your mobile device or computer (using Safari or Chrome) and select a certain date/time for your appointment or by “firstavailable time.” Have your health card in hand when booking on-line or calling in.

Depending on your result, there is guidance provided by the Windsor Essex County Health Unit.

Hospital officials say there also continues to be an issue with people booking appointments and failing to attend their appointment. This has resulted in appointments being left open and not used. If you need to cancel your appointment, call 519-973-4443 Monday thru Friday 9 a.m. to 5p.m. to cancel.