VICTORIA -- CTV News has learned a COVID-19 testing centre is under construction at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre.
Photos posted online show construction crews building what looks like treatment rooms in the recreation centre.
The District of Saanich tells CTV News that it has given Island Health permission to use the space.
Although Island Health has not confirmed what the site is being used for, similar sites across the province are used for testing and screening.
Tents are also expected to be assembled in the recreation centre's parking lot.
Last week, the provincial government suspended all local states of emergency except for the City of Vancouver.
B.C. Premier John Horgan said at the time that the suspension of local states of emergency would allow for the government to roll out a province-wide approach to COVID-19. The province-wide response includes allowing health authorities to use municipal facilities, like recreation centres, if requested.
On Monday, B.C. announced that there were 86 new cases of COVID-19 in the province, bringing the provincial total to 970.
Of those 970 cases, 67 are located in the Island Health region.
At Monday’s daily COVID-19 update, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry asked that everyone continue practicing physical distancing and urged all residents to stay at home as much as possible.
"We are not through this storm yet, " said Henry. "We have not reached our peak."
"We need to be 100 per cent committed, all of us, to doing our part. We need to flatten the curve," she said.
