Seek testing at an assessment centre if you are:
- Showing COVID-19 symptoms
- Testing should be conducted as soon as possible (while you have symptoms), but if you recently had symptoms and are now symptom-free, you are still eligible for COVID-19 testing. When contacting the Assessment/Testing Centre, please notify that your test is for symptomatic testing.
- Have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by: your public health unit, an individual who tested positive that you have been in close contact with, or exposure notification through the COVID Alert app
- Including individuals requiring a test to return to school or day care
- A resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by your local public health unit
- Eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care
- Including individuals who require testing to meet ministry guidelines (e.g. prior to a visit in a Long-Term Care home or prior to a medical procedure)
If you require urgent care, call 911 or visit the hospital emergency department and advise them of your symptoms and travel history, if applicable.
Effective December 11, per provincial policy, you will no longer be able to get a publicly-funded COVID-19 test for international travel. COVID-19 tests for travellers are available through private providers for a fee. Please note: Region of Waterloo Public Health does not maintain a listing of private laboratory services.
For more information about when to visit an assessment centre or a pharmacy for testing, visit Ontario's COVID-19 testing and testing location information webpage.
Use the infographic: Why we test and where to go to help determine if you should make an appointment at an assessment centre or a pharmacy.
Please call the assessment centres below to schedule an appointment for testing.
Before going to an assessment centre
- If you have any symptoms use the self-assessment tool. For schools and child care centres, use the COVID-19 school and child care screening tool. The screening tool will help determine if you need to seek care, or testing, based on your symptoms. Follow the instructions in the tool.
- Determine whether you should visit an assessment centre or pharmacy for testing.
- You do not need a referral from a primary care provider or Public Health to access testing. All the assessment centres take self-referrals.
- If you are unable to leave your home for testing due to a medical condition, speak to your health care provider.
Assessment and testing centres
Note: This information is provided by the assessment centres and may change. For full details, visit the website for each assessment centre or check social media for updates.
| Location | Hours |
|---|---|
|
Cambridge-North Dumfries Community Assessment and Testing Centre (Cambridge Memorial Hospital)
To cancel your appointment, please call 226-895-1050 and select option 3. |
8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. |
|
Grand River Hospital COVID-19 Drive-Thru Testing Centre 15 Charles Street West, Kitchener (former Charles Street Transit Terminal)
You do not need a car to be tested. There is a separate testing area for individuals who arrive by foot. Book an appointment or walk-in/drive-thru with no appointment:
To cancel your appointment, please call 226-806-5690. |
No appointment necessary: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
By appointment: 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. |
|
St. Mary's General Hospital COVID-19 Testing Centre If you need assistance, call 519-885-9517. To cancel your appointment, please call 226-989-4966. |
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Seven days a week |
For assessment and testing information for health care workers please visit our Health Professionals page.
Pharmacies
You may seek testing at a pharmacy if you do not have symptoms and you meet the testing criteria. View Ontario's COVID-19 testing and testing location information webpage for details on which local pharmacies perform COVID-19 testing.
If you have symptoms go to an assessment centre.
After you are tested
If you get tested, remain in self-isolation while you wait for your results.
Region of Waterloo Public Health offers a Safe Voluntary Isolation Site to support individuals who are unable to isolate safely at home. For more information on eligibility and how to apply, visit our Safe Voluntary Isolation Site webpage.
Please note that if you are a returning traveller and under the Quarantine Act, a negative test does not exempt you from the 14 day self-isolation period required by the Quarantine Act.
Test results
After you've had your COVID-19 test, it gets sent to a lab for testing. The result is reported to the Ontario Laboratories Information System, the Ministry’s repository for test results. Results can take a few days to become available.
Please be advised that Public Health does not receive negative test results and does not have the capacity to look up results for individuals requesting their results.
Public Health receives all positive results and will contact you directly if you test positive for having COVID-19.
You can access your test results:
- Online at Ontario’s COVID-19 test results website
- Online through laboratory portals you are subscribed to (e.g. Life Labs or Dynacare)
- By contacting your primary care provider
- By contacting the Assessment and Testing Centre where you were tested
Continue to follow the instructions given to you when you were tested while you wait for your results.
If you test positive for having COVID-19:
- Continue self-isolation
- If you live with others, your household members should also immediately self-isolate and seek testing
- If you have had high risk, close contact with others, within 48 hours of when you developed symptoms, tell these close contacts to self-isolate and get tested
If you test negative for having COVID-19
Continue to follow the instructions given to you when you got tested. Practice physical distancing, wear a face covering, wash your hands often and continue to self-monitor for symptoms. Get tested again if symptoms develop. Please refer to COVID-19 testing handout for more details.
Public Health is not able to provide you a copy of your results.
Please note: Region of Waterloo Public Health is not able to expedite test results for any reason including travel, medical procedures or visitation requirements at long-term care or retirement homes.
Rapid Antigen Testing (Rapid screen, point of care or POC testing)
For individuals
- You received a COVID-19 POC test through your workplace or other organization, read Rapid Point of Care Testing for COVID-19 to find out your next steps.
- Rapid Point of Care (POC) antigen testing is used to screen for potential COVID-19 infection in asymptomatic individuals (i.e., people who have no symptoms) and should not be used for diagnosis of acute COVID-19 infection
- POC antigen tests should not be used for individuals:
- With symptoms
- Who have had close contact with someone who is positive for COVID-19
- Who have previously been infected and recovered from COVID-19
- To diagnose COVID-19 infection
- If you currently have symptoms or are a close contact of a confirmed case, you should be tested with a laboratory-based PCR test at an Assessment Centre and not with a rapid POC antigen screening test.
- If you have symptoms, you must self-isolate while awaiting your PCR results. If you are a close contact of a confirmed case, you must self-isolate for 14 days from your last exposure to the case, regardless of whether or not you receive a negative PCR result.
- Rapid testing does not replace public health measures such as symptom screening, physical distancing, masking and hand hygiene in the workplace.
- Rapid testing does not prevent someone from getting COVID-19.
- Any positive test results from rapid testing must be confirmed with laboratory-based PCR testing within 24 hours.
- A negative test result does not guarantee that you are not infected with COVID-19 or will not spread it to others. False negatives with POC antigen tests are common. Continue to follow all public health guidance to help prevent the spread.
For employers or organizations providing private POC testing
- Rapid Point of Care Testing for Employers or Organizations providing private POC testing
- Organizations (i.e., workplaces) that participate in rapid testing assume any operational, medical, and/or legal responsibilities relating to this initiative.
- You must have a procedure in place to provide follow up on test results.
- You must have clear processes in place to respond, should any individuals in your organization be exposed to or diagnosed with COVID-19.
- For more information about participating please review the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Guidance: Considerations for Privately Initiated Testing
- Anyone who falls within the current Provincial Testing Guidance can continue to receive a free PCR test for COVID-19 at assessment centres, participating pharmacies and community labs
- Prior to implementation, please understand the local reporting requirements by the Public Health Unit
- Rapid testing kits are available through the StaySafe and ChamberCheck programs.
Resources for organizations prior to implementation
- COVID-19 Guidance: Considerations for Antigen Point-of-Care Testing
- COVID-19 Guidance: Considerations for Privately Initiated Testing
- COVID-19 Guidance: Testing of Asymptomatic Persons in Pharmacies
- COVID-19 Provincial Testing Guidance
- COVID-19 Test and Testing Locations
- Interim Guidance for the Use of Rapid Antigen Detection Tests
Reporting results for organizations performing Rapid Antigen Testing
- Rapid tests that are preliminary positive may be reported to Public Health. Positive preliminary POC results can be faxed to 519-883-2248 using the Positive COVID-19 Point of Care (POC) Reporting Form
- Confirmatory testing (PCR) at a regional Assessment and Testing Centre must be completed within 24 hours of the rapid test.
- The case and their high-risk contacts must begin self-isolation while PCR results are pending
- A preliminary positive test result from a Health Canada approved rapid antigen POC test is considered a probable case of COVID-19
- Client information about testing:
Self-reporting positive results
If you test positive for having COVID-19 you can self-report online through Contact+ on the Ministry's test results website.
By self-reporting, you will help us:
- Quickly locate and confirm accurate contact information
- Speed up call wait times
- Track and alert anyone you have been in close contact with
You will receive a unique 10-digit key that you can use with the COVID Alert App that will notify users if they have been exposed.
Resources
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