Have been exposed to a confirmed case of the virus, as informed by the TBDHU or an exposure notification through the COVID Alert app;
A resident or work in a setting that has a COVID-19 outbreak, as identified and informed by the TBDHU; or
Eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative directed by the Ministry of Health or the Ministry of Long-Term Care. This includes visitors to long-term care homes.
To be assessed and scheduled for testing, call the assessment centre nearest you (see below for specific details and contact information for each centre). Appointments are required.
All assessment centres are by appointment only.
To schedule testing in Thunder Bay, contact the Thunder Bay COVID-19 Assessment Centre. This includes testing occurring at the Medical Building and Confederation College sites, as well as in-home testing provided by Superior North EMS.
Book an Appointment by Phone: (807) 935-8100, 7 days a week, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
You can also call your healthcare provider to find out if they offer COVID-19 testing for rostered patients.
All district assessment centres are available only to those who have been directed by TBDHU district offices, their health care provider or Telehealth to attend. Call your healthcare provider to find out if they offer COVID-19 testing for rosteredpatients.
All assessment centres are by appointment only.
TBDHU district offices can accept all COVID-19 inquiries Monday to Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the numbers listed below.
Nipigon Assessment Centre
Communities of Nipigon, Dorion, Red Rock
For a testing appointment, call TBDHU branch office at (807) 886-1060 or the Nipigon District Family Health Team at (807) 887-5645 (Monday to Friday) or your health care provider.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 886-1060 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
Terrace Bay Assessment Centre
Communities of Schreiber, Terrace Bay
For a testing appointment, call TBDHU branch office at (807) 825-7770 or your health care provider.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 825-7770 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
Marathon Assessment Centre
Community of Marathon
For a testing appointment, call Marathon Family Health Team at (807) 229-3243
or TBDHU branch office at (807) 229-1820.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 229-1820 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
Manitouwadge Assessment Centre
Community of Manitouwadge
For a testing appointment, call Sante Manitouwadge Health at (807) 826-3251, ext. 221 or TBDHU Marathon branch office at (807) 229-1820.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 229-1820 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
Greenstone Assessment Centre
Community of Greenstone
For a testing assessment, call Greenstone Family Health Team at (807) 854-0051, Geraldton Medical Group at (807) 854-0224 or TBDHU branch office at (807) 854-0454.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 854-0454 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
NorWest Community Health Centres – Longlac Site
Open to residents of Longlac; will test members of Aroland, Long Lake 58 and Ginoogaming First Nations on days Dilico is not providing testing in First Nations communities.
For a testing assessment, contact NWCHC clinic at (807) 876-2271 Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
For all other COVID-19 inquiries, call TBDHU at (807) 854-0454 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630.
Individuals residing in areas that are not close to a Thunder Bay or District Assessment Centre are advised to call their local nursing station, band office or the Thunder Bay District Health Unit directly at (807) 625-5900 or Toll-Free at 1-888-294-6630, for the latest information about COVID-19 testing.
COVID-19 Testing for On Reserve Fort William First Nation Members Only
Dilico Family Health Team is offering COVID-19 testing Monday to Friday by appointment only. If you require a test, call (807) 626-5200 to schedule a date and time.
All TBRHSC and SJCG employees (including Hogarth Riverview Manor and Bethammi Nursing Home) who require COVID-19 testing should refer to their internal Occupational Health and Safety Department to be referred for testing.
Employees from other long-term care or retirement home facilities can call TBDHU for assessment for testing. This includes Southbridge Roseview, Southbridge Pinewood, Pioneer Ridge, Roseview Manor, Southbridge Lakehead Manor, Nipigon LTC (at hospital), Terrace Bay (Wilkes-Terrace), Marathon LTC (at Wilson Memorial hospital), Geraldton LTC (at hospital) and Manitouwadge Health LTC (at hospital).
Waiting for your Test Appointment and Test Results
Individuals are tested for different reasons. While you are waiting for your test appointment and test result, please identify your situation and follow the directions below:
You and your close contacts (e.g. household members) must self-isolate while you wait for your test appointment and test result. If your close contacts develop symptoms, they should arrange for testing.
You and your close contacts (e.g. household members) must self-isolate while you wait for your test appointment and test result. If your close contacts develop symptoms, they should arrange for testing.
Self-isolate while waiting for your test appointment and test result. Your close contacts (e.g. household members) must stay home except for essential reasons, for the duration of the contact's isolation period.
Essential reasons could include going to work, school or child care and essential errands such as groceries, attending medical appointments or picking up prescriptions. It is important to:
Stay home as much as possible.
Limit contact with others.
Work from home, if possible.
Consider using online grocery ordering services, food delivery, or having someone drop off groceries and other essential items to your home.
Do not visit others and do not have visitors in your home.
Keep a minimum 2 metre distance from anyone outside your household.
Continue to follow all infection prevention measures.
If anyone in the household develops symptoms, the whole household must self-isolate and the symptomatic individual should get tested.
NOTE: At this time, if any person in your household is considered a high-risk contact of someone who has COVID-19, any children in the household must NOT attend child care or school (including post-secondary), or extracurricular activities in-person during the risk period. Parents and caregivers should work with their child’s school to determine alternative options. This is NOT in the Ontario screening tool and must be considered separately. For details, see the February 21, 2021 COVID-19 Letter to Parents/Caregivers.
Neither you nor your close contacts (e.g. household members) must self-isolate while you are waiting for your test appointment and test result; you must all self-monitor for symptoms. If anyone develops symptoms, they must self-isolate immediately and arrange for testing. Close contacts with no symptoms must self-monitor for symptoms.
*An exposure includes international travel, travel outside of Northwestern Ontario, contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19, or worked or attended a facility that is under an outbreak of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
When You Can Come Out of Self-Isolation
If you child is staying home or has been sent home from child care or school because of symptoms or illness, keep them home, limit their contact with others, seek medical advice as necessary, and follow the instructions regarding testing and when they can return to child care or school and other activities as found on the Child with Symptoms & When to Return page.
You can come out of self-isolation 10 days after your symptoms started as long as your symptoms are improving.
You must self-isolate for 10 days from when your symptoms started unless ALL of the following apply:
a doctor or nurse practitioner has given you another diagnosis or explanation for the symptoms; AND
you do not have a fever (without using medication); AND
it has been at least 24 hours since your symptoms started improving or getting better.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call your local Assessment Centre.
Your household contacts must self-isolate for 14 days from their last contact with the symptomatic person. If they develop symptoms then they need to self-isolate and arrange for testing.
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
If the result is negative, you can come out of self-isolation if it has been at least 24 hours since your symptoms started improving AND you do not have a fever without using medication (e.g. you aren't taking any medication to stop a fever).
If your symptoms are still present 10 days after they started and have not worsened, you can come out of self-isolation, but you need to follow up with your health care provider.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call your local Assessment Centre.
Your household contacts must self-isolate until your test result comes back negative. If they develop symptoms they must self-isolate and arrange for testing.
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
You can come out of self-isolation 10 days after onset of symptoms, as long as your symptoms are improving and you have no fever.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call your local Assessment Centre.
Your household contacts must self-isolate until your test result comes back negative, or for 14 days from their last exposure to you. If they develop symptoms they must self-isolate and arrange for testing.
You can come out of self-isolation 10 days after your symptoms started as long as your symptoms are improving.
You must self-isolate for 10 days from when your symptoms started unless ALL of the following apply:
a doctor or nurse practitioner has given you another diagnosis or explanation for the symptoms; AND
you do not have a fever (without using medication); AND
it has been at least 24 hours since your symptoms started improving or getting better.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call the Assessment Centre nearest you or Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
Your household contacts must self-isolate for 14 days from their last exposure to you. If they develop symptoms they must self-isolate and arrange for testing.
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
If the result is negative, you can come out of self-isolation if it has been at least 24 hours since your symptoms started improving AND you do not have a fever without using medication (i.e. you aren't taking any medication to stop a fever).
If your symptoms are still present 10 days after they started and have not worsened, you can come out of self-isolation, but you need to follow up with your health care provider.
If your symptoms worsen, call the Assessment Centre nearest you or Telehealth Ontario at 1-866-797-0000.
Your household contacts must self-isolate until your test result comes back negative. If they develop symptoms they must self-isolate and arrange for testing.
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
You can come out of self-isolation 10 days after onset of symptoms, as long as your symptoms are improving and you have no fever.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call your local Assessment Centre.
Your household contacts must self-isolate until your test result comes back negative, or for 14 days from their last exposure to you. If they develop symptoms they must self-isolate and arrange for testing.
You can end your self-isolation when you have reached 14 days after your return from international travel OR 14 days after your symptoms started, whichever is longer IF your symptoms are improving.
NOTE: If you are a health care worker, you have different criteria for coming out of self-isolation so you must follow the directions provided by your employer (e.g. Occupational Health and Safety).
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
If the result is negative, continue to self-isolate for the remainder of the 14 days. After the 14 days you can come out of self-isolation if your symptoms are improving.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms, worsen call your local Assessment Centre.
NOTE: If you are a health care worker, you have different criteria for coming out of self-isolation so you must follow the directions provided by your employer (e.g. Occupational Health and Safety).
Continue to self-isolate until you receive the result.
If the result is positive you will be contacted by TBDHU.
If the result is negative you can come out of self-isolation at this point if your symptoms are improving.
If your symptoms are not improving, follow up with your health care provider. If your symptoms worsen, call your local Assessment Centre.
NOTE: If you are a health care worker, you have different criteria for coming out of self-isolation so you must follow the directions provided by your employer (e.g. Occupational Health and Safety).
Visit the Self-Isolation page for details specific to various self-isolation scenarios, including what you can and cannot do during self-isolation, what to do if your symptoms worsen, what your close contacts should do, and when you can come out of self-isolation.
Contact Tracing
Case management and contact tracing is a core competency of public health. This includes identifying close contacts for every positive COVID-19 case in the Thunder Bay District. The identification and management of these close contacts is one of the tools public health uses to slow the spread of COVID-19.
The TBDHU also completes case and contact management for other infectious diseases, such as sexually transmitted infections (e.g. chlamydia and gonorrhea), blood borne viruses, (e.g. HIV and Hepatitis C), and tuberculosis.
With regards to confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the TBDHU area, individuals who have not been contacted by public health would not be considered a high-risk close contact of confirmed cases.
Individuals could be considered high-risk contacts if they:
were within 2 metres of a person with COVID-19 for 15 minutes or more, even if both people were wearing a mask.
had multiple close encounters with a person with COVID-19 over a 24-hour period that add up to 15 minutes or more (even if each was less than 15 minutes).
were within 2 metres of a person with COVID-19 for any amount of time, except transient such as walking past a person on the sidewalk or in a store, if either person was not wearing a mask.
had close, physical contact with a person with COVID-19, such as a hug.
live or provide care in the same home as a person with COVID-19.
A public health nurse will contact any individual that is found to be a high-risk close contact of a person with COVID-19 and will provide further instructions. If you have been notified that you are a high-risk contact, you can obtain some initial information on the Important information for high-risk close contacts of COVID-19 page while you wait to be contacted.
Individuals who were within 2 metres of a person with COVID-19 but were wearing full personal protective equipment (i.e. medical-grade mask and eye protection) for the duration of the interaction, could be considered a low-risk exposure.
If the health unit needs to contact you due to possible risk of exposure to COVID-19, the process to contact is first by phone. If unreachable by phone, you may receive a:
home visit;
letter by mail;
social media direct message;
text requesting to call the health unit.
There have been reports of recorded messages, texts and/or emails going around suggesting the recipient has been exposed to COVID-19 and to click a link. This is a scam - TBDHU will never ask you to click a link or use a recorded message to contact you. Beware of people trying to take advantage during these tough times.
If you use the COVID Alert mobile app, you may get a notification if you may have been exposed to COVID-19 by someone else who also uses COVID Alert.
You can download the COVID Alert mobile app to get a phone alert if you may have been exposed to COVID-19, and let others know if you test positive without sharing any personal information.
With the free COVID Alert app, you can:
get a notification if you may have been exposed to COVID-19.
get advice on what to do next.
tell nearby app users if you test positive for COVID-19, without sharing any personal information.
COVID Alert will not:
collect, store or access any personal data or health information.
tell you if you’re currently near someone who has tested positive.
tell you about outbreaks in your city or neighbourhood.
If you test positive for COVID-19, you can use the app to notify others. Here's how:
Give the app details to help narrow down when you were likely most infectious.
Allow your phone to share your random codes, which will notify people you've been near (the app only uses the random codes - it does not collect or share any health information about you).
COVID Alert is completely voluntary. You choose to download, use or delete it. The more people who use it, the more effective it will be in helping to protect each other and our communities.
