Page 46 - COVID-19 Inpatient Training Resources

Indications for testing for COVID-19

Updated: June 10, 2020

There have been several updates to the Ministry of Health guidance for whom testing is
indicated. Below is a summary for clinicians at Unity Health Toronto. We have created a
dropdown list of reasons for testing in Soarian and Sunrise in order to help Infection
Prevention and Control (IPAC) (see appendix), the laboratory, Corporate Health and Safety
Services, and Toronto Public Health better understand which categories patients fall into. This
helps with their clinical care in terms of additional precautions, specimen handling and contact
tracing.

Symptomatic Patient Testing

Any patient presenting with symptoms consistent with COVID-19 should be considered for
testing, regardless of whether they are an inpatient or an outpatient. These symptoms include
but are not limited to:

• Fever
• New or worsening cough
• Shortness of breath
• Runny nose/nasal congestion
• Sore throat
• Difficulty swallowing
• Decrease/loss of sense of taste or smell
• Nausea/vomiting/diarrhea/abdominal pain
• Atypical symptoms in the elderly, pediatric and developmentally delayed populations

Any patient who has symptoms consistent with COVID-19 and is undergoing testing should be
considered a Person Under Investigation (PUI) and placed in the appropriate additional COVID-
19 precautions. Identifying the risk factors patients have for COVID-19 is helpful for IPAC and
TPH investigations, please refer to the list below when ordering COVID-19 testing. The reason
for testing codes are as follows: