[Reporter: Christine Birak] Canadians are landing in emergency rooms
asking if they have COVID-19.
The University Health Network showed us what happens next.
Minus the wait.
Hi, so we have a patient with a positive screening named Christine.
[Reporter] The screener share symptoms in travel history with a nurse
who prepares to take a look.
Now the person that's being screened is supposed to sit about two meters
from other people that are in the waiting room.
Hi Christine?
Hi.
Hi, my name is Cherry.
I'm one of the nurses here.
You can please follow me.
[Reporter] More questions followed by a quick exam.
The information then gets passed on to the doctor.
[Nurse] Then she or he will decide whether to do a swab or not to test COVID-19.
[Reporter] After a quick check, the ER doctor makes the call.
A nasal swab goes down the throat or up through the nose.
So if you can pull down your mask.
Okay, I've never had this done before.
[Reporter] Yes, it's startling but it's over in a moment.
[Nurse] That's it.
It's all done.
[Reporter]The results take 24 hours but doctors urge people not to just show up in hospital.
[Dr. Erin O'Connor] We need to be very careful about is not over burdening the department
so that we can still look after the very sick people.
[Reporter] Staff are also preparing for those scenarios.
[Dr. Erin O'Connor] We also have been really running drills on the worst case scenario
which is that if a patient comes in with COVID-19 and is in a cardiac arrest situation.
[Reporter] It's a mannequin but in case you missed it
it exhaled, spraying workers like a patient.
Afterwards UV light reveals how far germs can travel.
[ER Doctor] It's stressful, yeah.
It's very stressful and anxiety-provoking.
[Reporter] Reminding everyone as this outbreak evolves
proper precautions must be taken by health care workers and patients alike.
Christine Birak, CBC News, Toronto