COVID-19 (novel coronavirus)

What to do if you think you have COVID-19 

Please review the media release issued on December 31, 2021 for updated information on PCR testing and self-isolation guidelines.

For an updated list of COVID-19 symptoms please see Symptoms and treatment information issued by Province of Ontario

If you think you have symptoms or are feel you may have been exposed to COVID-19, please visit the COVID-19 Assessment Centre tab below to read about new testing eligibility requirements. You must schedule an appointment to be tested. No walk-ins accepted. For details on hours and location, see the COVID-19 Assessment Centre tab below.

If you need urgent care and are in distress, call 911 or visit the Emergency Department immediately.  

Hospital Care for COVID-19-Positive Patients

BCHS is working together with all hospitals across the greater region including Hamilton, Niagara, Haldimand, Norfolk and Burlington to provide care for patients who are COVID-19 positive. For information about COVID-19 hospital care available click here. 

COVID-19 Assessment Centre & Appointment Booking

COVID-19 Assessment Centre 

Willett Urgent Care Centre

IMPORTANT NOTE: COVID-19 Vaccinations are NOT available at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre. Please visit the COVID-19 vaccine page of the Brant County Health Unit for vaccination locations and booking information.

Brant Community Healthcare System's COVID-19 Assessment Centre is located at the Willett Urgent Care Centre, 238 Grand River St N Paris.

The COVID-19 Assessment Centre will be open from 8am-4pm, 7 days a week. However, please note that it will be closed between 12pm - 1pm. Click here to access our online self-booking tool, available 24/7.

The Assessment Centre does not accept walk-ins. You must schedule an appointment in advance to be tested. 

PLEASE NOTE: When there is high demand for testing, wait times and bookings may take longer than usual. Please know we are doing everything possible to provide timely testing and we appreciate your patience and understanding.

Who is Eligible for Testing?

The Government of Ontario has updated the COVID-19 testing guidelines for assessment centres across the province. Updated criteria for COVID-19 testing states that both polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and rapid molecular tests can confirm if you have COVID-19. 

They are collected by a health care professional, or another trained individual, who swab your nose or throat.  At home PCR self-collection tests are also available and can be used by individuals to perform the test at home and be dropped off at a testing location for processing.  

PCR samples are sent to a lab to be tested and you get the results in a couple days. Samples taken during rapid molecular testing do not need to be sent to a lab and results are generally available the same day.

Eligibility for PCR or rapid molecular testing:

If you are at higher risk of severe outcomes of COVID‑19, you are eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing and should seek out testing as soon as possible if you develop symptoms.

You are eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing if you have COVID‑19 symptoms and belong to any of the following groups:

• People aged 70 years and older
• People aged 60 years and older who have less than three doses of COVID‑19 vaccine
• People who are immunocompromised
• Adults aged 18 years and older who have had less than three doses of COVID‑19 vaccine and have risk conditions
• Other people at higher risk of severe disease who may be eligible for COVID‑19 treatment if they tested positive
• Pregnant people
• Patient-facing healthcare workers
• Staff, volunteers, residents/inpatients, essential care providers, and visitors in highest risk settings, including:
• Hospitals, including complex continuing care facilities and paramedic services
• Congregate living settings with medically and socially vulnerable individuals, including, but not limited to, long-term care homes, retirement homes
• First Nation elder care lodges
• Group homes
• Shelters
• Hospices
• Correctional institutions
• Hospital schools
• Household members of staff in highest risk settings and patient-facing health care workers
• Home and community care workers
• Staff and students in Provincial and Demonstration Schools
• International agriculture workers in congregate living settings
• Patients seeking emergency medical care, at the discretion of the treating clinician
• Other outpatients for whom a diagnostic test is required for clinical management, at the discretion of the treating clinician
• People who are underhoused or experiencing homelessness
• First responders, including fire, police and paramedics

You are also eligible for PCR or rapid molecular testing if you belong to any of the following groups whether you have symptoms or not:

• Individuals who are from a First Nation, Inuit, Métis community, and/or who self-identify as First Nation, Inuit, and Métis, and their household members
• Individuals travelling into First Nation, Inuit, Métis communities for work
• Individuals on admission/transfer to or from hospital or congregate living setting
• people in the context of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in highest risk settings as directed by the local public health unit
• Individuals, and one accompanying caregiver, with written prior approval for out-of-country medical services from the General Manager, Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP)
• Any patient with a scheduled surgical procedure requiring a general anaesthetic 24–48 hours prior to procedure date
• Newborns born to people with confirmed COVID‑19 at the time of birth within 24 hours of delivery, with a repeat test at 48 hours after birth if baseline test is negative, or if the parental test results are pending at the time of discharge
• People 24–48 hours prior to treatment for cancer or prior to hemodialysis, at the discretion of the treating clinician

If you meet any one of the above circumstances, please contact the Brant Community Healthcare System to arrange for testing. You can also take the Ministry of Health’s self-assessment. 

Please note: We do not offer COVID-19 testing for travel, including domestic and international trips. This change is based on the updated guidance from the Government of Ontario.

How to Book an Appointment:

New: To book a test at the COVID-19 Assessment Centre, click here to access the online self-booking tool, available 24/7.

You can also book an appointment in advance by emailing Covid.assessment@bchsys.org with your name and telephone number, or by calling the hotline at 519-751-5818, available Monday-Friday 9:00am-5:00pm.*

If your symptoms get worse and you need urgent care, please visit the local emergency department or call 911 immediately.

PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of all patients, families and staff, visitor restrictions are in place. People being tested at the Assessment Centre will not be allowed to have visitors unless they meet the following criteria:

• An adult accompanying a child who is a patient
• A frail older person
• A person with a disability
• An interpreter for a patient

Hours and Location

Hours:                                                                                    

Monday to Friday: 8am to 4pm                                           

Saturday and Sunday: 8am to 4pm

Closed between 12pm - 1pm.                                   

Location:

238 Grand River St N, Paris, ON N3L 2M7

How do I access my COVID-19 test results?

There is a user-friendly online portal where you can easily access your COVID-19 lab test results.

What You Can Do to Stop the Spread

To help keep everyone safe, please follow all health safety measures – keep a safe physical distance of at least two metres from others, wear face masks, wash or sanitize your hands often and please stay home if you’re not feeling well unless to access medical care. If we all work together, we can help stop the spread of COVID-19. Stay healthy – Stay safe.

Visiting Hours and Information

Updated Visitor Policy at BCHS 

To view the visitor policy please visit the Visiting Hours and Information page of the BCHS website. Click here to read the Visiting Guidelines information sheet.

BCHS reviews its hospital visitor policy and guidelines regularly to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone at our hospital sites. 

 Keeping Patients Safe

Universal Mask Policy in Effect

Brant Community Healthcare System is providing masks to all patients, visitors and staff entering our hospitals. 

PLEASE NOTE: For everyone's safety, ALL patients and visitors are required to wear a medical mask at BCHS sites. Medical grade masks will be provided by BCHS when a patient is admitted and for everyone at hospital entrances.

To ensure you have a positive experience while visiting BCHS hospital sites, please remember the following:

• When coming into the hospital, patients and visitors will be asked to remove their masks and wear the hospital-provided mask.
• If a patient or visitor wishes to double-mask, masks provided by the hospital must be put on first, with their own mask worn as the top layer.
• Patients must wear their mask when a health care worker or visitor is present in their room, and when the patient leaves their room.
• Visitors must wear their masks at all times in the hospital. Eating or drinking is not permitted at hospital locations.
• Exceptions to our BCHS mask policy may be considered on a case by case basis only.

Click here for information on how to properly wear a mask.

Physical Distancing

BCHS has strict safety precautions in place with signs posted around the hospital to ensure you are keeping a safe, physical distance of 2 metres/6 feet from others. Waiting room areas have been modified - every other chair in waiting rooms and floors are roped off and marked to ensure and encourage safe distancing in line-ups. 

There is limited seating in public areas and we are currently discouraging using these areas.

Staff and physicians are not meeting in-person. All group meetings are taking place virtually using telephone and video conferences.

Enhanced Cleaning

The Environmental Services team at BCHS is following strictly enhanced cleaning and disinfection procedures to ensure a clean and safe environment for our patients, staff and physicians.

Screening & Reduced Entrances

We are actively screening for potential risk of COVID-19. Everyone who comes to our sites must be screened before entering to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone. Please allow for extra time if you are coming to the hospital.

If you are seeking Emergency Care, please go directly to the Emergency Department entrance at Brantford General Hospital.

Patients and Visitors may use the A Wing Entrance at BGH ONLY for:

• Pediatrics
• Dialysis
• Diagnostic Imaging
• Labour and Delivery

All other Patients and Visitors must enter through the D Wing Entrance.

If you are seeking non-emergency care at The Willett, Paris, please enter using the front entrance.

Thank you for your patience understanding during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our ongoing efforts are designed to protect the health and safety of our patients, staff, physicians and the community from the potential transmission of the COVID-19 virus.

 Ways to Donate

We are grateful to the many generous members of our community who have stepped forward with offers of personal protective equipment (PPE) for our staff and physicians. Our staff are safe and currently have the right PPE to do their jobs but COVID-19 demands can change quickly.

We kindly request that anyone who would like to make a donation of PPE, or supply PPE by other means, please contact us first. We are working swiftly to ensure donations that we require and can accept, meet national standards for PPE use in a health care setting, and align this equipment to our current products.

Anyone looking to donate or supply products please email foundation@bchsys.org or call us at 519-751-5510 and provide:

• Product description
• Product code
• Identify if the equipment is unused, unopened and unexpired
• Contact name, email and phone number

 Links & Resources

• Brant County Health Unit
• Ministry of Health dedicated web page
• Federal COVID-19 hotline: 1-833-784-4397
• BCHS COVID-19 hotline: 519-751-5818
• Federal email:phac.info.aspc@canada.ca
• Ontario Ministry of Health - Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)
• Ontario Ministry of Health - Information Sheet (available in multiple languages)

Other resources: 

• Government of Ontario - List of Essential Workplaces
• Public Health Agency of Canada, 2019 Novel Coronavirus infection: Outbreak update
• Government of Canada - Novel Coronavirus in China
• U.S. Center for Disease Control - 2019 Novel Coronavirus
• World Health Organization - Coronavirus
• Public Health Ontario - Novel Coronavirus 2019-nCoV (for Health Care Providers)
• Ontario Ministry of Health - Prevent Virus from Spreading (Self-isolation instructions)
• World Health Organization - Coping with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak
• World Health Organization - Getting your workplace ready for COVID-19
• World Health Organization - Helping children cope with stress during the 2019-nCoV outbreak
• Pets and COVID-19 Fact Sheet
• Brantford Community Food Resources 
• Woodview Mental Health & Autism Services
• Self-Care Tips for Caregivers
• Isolation activities Wi-Fi Based
• Isolation activites NON Wi-Fi Based
• How to apply for EI during COVID-19