A COVID-19 testing site opened at Central Park in Burnaby on Saturday.

The site is led by the Burnaby Division of Practice, as well as the City of Burnaby, the RCMP, and Fraser Health Authority. It is equipped with a drive-thru testing site and a temporary clinic that will provide primary care to individuals dealing with respiratory symptoms.

Vanessa Woznow, spokesperson for the health authority, tells Daily Hive that “there are a number of COVID-19 testing sites throughout the Fraser Health Region.”

She adds, however, that the testing site at Central Park is referral-only and not available to walk-in patients.

“COVID-19 testing is for patients who have been assessed by their family physician or 8-1-1 as requiring testing but not requiring acute care support,” Woznow explains. “All patients require a referral from their family physician and 8-1-1 to access testing at this site.”

While testing is available for those who need it, Fraser Health Authority reiterates that not everyone will need a test.

At this point in time, provincial health authorities are targeting individuals that are involved in active investigations or outbreak clusters.

“If you have no symptoms, mild symptoms, or are a returning traveller and isolating at home, you do not require a test,” said Woznow. “Testing sites helps deter people from going to the emergency department for COVID-19 testing and to support community physicians who are unable to perform the test at their clinic.”

On Friday, BC health officials said that 67 new cases of coronavirus were discovered in the province, bringing the provincial total number of known cases to 792.

In addition, two more people died as a result of the illness in the Vancouver Coastal Health region.

Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer, says that restrictive measures such as social distancing and banning large gatherings are helping to slow BC’s spread of the virus.