Where is the shortest lineup for a COVID-19 test in the GTA?

New website crowdsources wait times for York Region, Peel and Toronto

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 2, 2020
Kim Zarzour

It all started when Ben Harris started to feel a little under the weather and thought he should get himself tested for COVID-19.

A Toronto resident, he’d heard rumours that his local assessment centre had long lineups.

Word was a drive-thru centre in Etobicoke was the fastest, but after driving all the way out to the west side of the city, he discovered he faced a five-hour wait.

"I was panicking, calling all my friends, messaging people, trying to see if anyone had a hot tip for a clinic or centre that would be faster," he recalls.

Someone suggested Brampton had a short wait and he raced across the GTA -- only to find that he had another two- to three-hour wait to be seen.

The test came back negative, but Harris was inspired to find a better way.

"I’d just burned through most of my day," he said. "I wish someone had told me that the wait time in Etobicoke was so long before I went all the way out there, and I wished I could see a directory of all the assessment centres and what the wait times were."

Not finding any such directory, he decided to create his own.

That directory launched last week and, from all accounts, it has been a roaring success.

The website, covidwaits.com, crowdsources information about wait times at 20 different assessment centres located at hospital and health-care centres in York Region, Toronto and Peel Region.

People can upload their wait times to share -- and find out -- the most accurate, up-to-date information on getting tested in the GTA.

There have been more than 10,000 interactions on the site so far, Harris says, adding, "the more people who use it, the more effective it is."

Participants are guaranteed privacy and are not required to log in or be tracked, just to add information about what testing centre they are attending and how long the wait is.

Despite wait times, York Region assessment centres still require you to pre-register with your health information. Some individuals are even registering via phone while standing in line.

Eventually, Harris says, he hopes to add more information and tips about getting tested for the coronavirus.

"I’m not really a techie person," says Harris, a business school graduate, "but I am fascinated by it."

He explains that he took a coding "boot camp" hoping to improve his skill set before launching his own business.

This is not that business, though.

Harris has not monetized the website.

Covidwaits.com is simply his gift to the community, he says, a way to help everyone out because "we’re all in this together."