N.B. to end COVID-19 PCR testing for most people April 1, memo reveals

COVID-19 PCR testing for most New Brunswickers will end, effective April 1, CBC has learned.

In a memo to all medical practitioners, Dr. Yves Léger, deputy chief medical officer of health, cites the "very low demand for testing and the need to eventually transition back to routine testing practices."

People will no longer be able to self-schedule an appointment for a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test at an assessment centre, according to the memo, dated March 20.

"Patients with COVID-19 compatible symptoms where the outcome of PCR testing will directly influence treatment or care," will still be able to get a lab-based PCR test, Léger advised.

But they will require a referral from a health-care provider, he said.

The move comes as New Brunswick continues to add several deaths to its pandemic death toll each week, as dozens of people continue to be hospitalized for or with the virus, and as the Omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, deemed immune evasive and "the most transmissible" yet, has become the dominant strain in the province.

It also comes as New Brunswick recorded its highest PCR test positivity rate in about a year, and as the federal government has stopped supplying rapid tests.

The Department of Health could not immediately be reached for comment about the timing of the move, the impact adding referrals will have on health-care providers, or what the requirement will mean for the thousands of New Brunswickers who still don't have a primary care provider.

When CBC inquired last week about the future of PCR testing in the province, department spokesperson Sean Hatchard replied, "Multiple COVID-19 testing options will be available to New Brunswickers for the foreseeable future. Those include both rapid tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which are used for other ailments as well, and those options will exist well beyond June 2023."

In the memo, Léger noted New Brunswick's approach to COVID testing has "continuously evolved over the course of the pandemic."

Since Jan. 4, 2022, self-referral for PCR testing has been limited to vulnerable individuals and high risk settings.

"The number of PCR tests administered at assessment centres for the general public has significantly decreased," he wrote.

All primary care providers will be able to request a PCR test at sites within the regional health authorities, according to the memo.

Horizon and Vitalité will "soon be making changes to their processes for COVID-19 testing, and will be communicating these changes to  practitioners once they are finalized," Léger said.