Skip to content

Fraser Health to ramp up COVID-19 testing in Tri-Cities and beyond

More tests for COVID-19 are coming to the Fraser Health region, which includes the Tri-Cities.
Dr. Martin Lavoie
Dr. Martin Lavoie

More tests for COVID-19 are coming to the Fraser Health region, which includes the Tri-Cities.

In a teleconference Wednesday, Dr. Martin Lavoie, the health authority’s chief medical officer, said it is currently evaluating the quality of new testing kits.

“We are looking into additional types of testing,” he said. “Soon we will have additional testing capacity.”

Additionally, Fraser Health’s president, Dr. Victoria Lee, said the authority’s supply of personal protective equipment and available beds to care for patients requiring treatment for COVID-19 remains solid.

“We have worked with provincial partners to ensure there’s adequate supplies,” she said, adding the health authority has established a working group to manage the distribution of those supplies to facilities like long-term care homes.

“As soon as there are concerns, we can mobilize quickly,” Dr. Lee said.

That confidence also extends to the region’s hospitals, which she said has 900 beds available for COVID patients, of which only 50 to 60% are currently occupied.

“We’re quite confident of our ability to respond,” Dr. Lee said, adding the region currently has 83 COVID patients in hospital, of which 31 are in intensive care. 

In total, there have been 601 confirmed cases of the respiratory infection in the Fraser Health authority that extends from Burnaby to Hope and includes 12 acute care hospitals. Of those, 329 patients have recovered.