A young couple from Repentigny is cautioning other Quebecers about how bad the current COVID-19 wave is.
Despite having symptoms, they say they have been unable to get tested for the virus, with no rapid tests available and multiple clinic sites turning them away.
Marissa De Medeiros, 22, and her fiancé Louis Bracchi Civitillo, 22, started feeling ill on Dec. 26, one day after a small family gathering for Christmas.
"We followed the restrictions, but still ended up getting it [COVID-19]," De Medeiros told CTV News. "But it wasn't anybody in the house, it was someone who was in contact with someone else and now everyone has it."
Tuesday, De Medeiros and Bracchi Civitillo say they visited two walk-in testing centres to confirm their positive diagnoses, but were turned away.
"The person greeting the cars at the entrance advised us if we don’t come at 6 a.m. we have no chance to get tested," she said.
So, the couple, who are both double vaccinated, woke up early Wednesday in an attempt to try again.
They arrived at their local screening centre in Mascouche at 6 a.m., but ended up being the last vehicle in what they estimate was a queue of at least two kilometres' worth of cars.
"They were telling us basically that it was overpacked. With the line we had this morning, we would have passed at 3 p.m. only for them to tell us we wouldn't be able to [be tested]," said Bracchi Civitillo. "It's not really reassuring, the fact that the premier is telling us to go to testing centres to make sure our numbers are right, but now they're telling us to stay home."
The young couple isn't alone in their scramble to find out if they've tested positive for the virus.
Across Greater Montreal, test centres are booked up, with some showing they have no availability left in 2021.
"I know the government is trying to do what they can and I appreciate their efforts," said De Medeiros. "At the same time, we're all doing what they want us to do, but we need more test centres open, more locations so people can get tested faster. And more rapid tests."
Tuesday, the head of Quebec's vaccination program, Daniel Paré, admitted the centres are at "maximum capacity" now and PCR testing should only be sought by people who have symptoms.
Some people have also reported long delays when it comes to getting their test results.
"People have to isolate when they're symptomatic and take these basic precautions. And for those who have rapid tests, use them well," he said. "We're now at a stage where we have to protect ourselves in our screening centres and we will continue to maximize our capacity."
De Medeiros stresses she's tried getting her hands on rapid tests, but to no avail.
"We checked all the places near us and they do not have rapid tests anymore and they do not know when they will receive them again," she said. "This is unbelievable. How can we be safe and be tested to keep others safe if we cannot even have a chance to do the right measures to assure this?"
Tuesday, Quebec recorded a whopping 12,833 new COVID-19 cases, a staggering increase from previous days and numbers unheard of since the start of the pandemic in spring 2020.
There have only been two other days that the province recorded more than 10,000 cases: 10,246 on Dec. 22 and 10,713 on Dec. 23, according to the Institut national de santé publique du Québec (INSPQ).
De Medeiros and Bracchi Civitillo say they're going to try to show up at a testing centre at 4 a.m. Thursday to try their luck again.
