COVID-19 – PCR tests reserved for priority clienteles

Îles-de-la-Madeleine, January 7, 2022 – Following the latest ministerial directives, the CISSS des Îles is announcing that PCR screening tests will no longer be offered to the general population, starting today. These tests will now be reserved for certain priority clienteles, namely:

• Symptomatic people belonging to the following groups: hospitalized patients, emergency and hemodialysis patients, health workers, residents of RPA, RI and CHSLD, essential care providers, family caregivers, outpatients for whom treatment against COVID-19 is being considered and people who are homeless or in precarious residential conditions;
• People from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities and people going to these communities to work there;
• Patients during an admission or transfer to or from a hospital or collective accommodation;
• High-risk contacts and asymptomatic or symptomatic individuals in the context of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in high-risk settings;
• Asymptomatic people in hospitals, in long-term care establishments and collective accommodation places and establishments, in accordance with provincial guidelines or directives.

Appointments that have already been given to people who are not among the priority groups identified above, will be honored. Until local pharmacies are restocked with rapid tests, symptomatic people can receive a one-time rapid test kit to do at home. To obtain the rapid test, they must still make an appointment at the screening center by calling 418 986-2125. It goes without saying that those planning a trip outside of Canada will have to turn to private testing clinics to obtain the required evidence to cross the borders.

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