Ontario Significantly Increases Daily Lab Testing

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Monday, 4 May 2020 at 13:23

The Province of Ontario has significantly increased daily lab testing for COVID-19.

ONTARIO - The Province of Ontario announced today they are going to significantly increase COVID-19 testing.

In partnership with Ontario Health, Public Health Ontario, local public health units, and hospital and community laboratories, the Ontario government has developed an integrated laboratory system which has established the province as a national leader in daily testing volumes per capita. Premier Doug Ford says he announced they would increase testing last month and they have done just that.

"We've been working around the clock to establish a vast and robust testing regime, which is critical in our fight against this deadly virus. We're now exceeding our target of 16,000 tests a day, with many of those tests aimed at protecting our long-term care residents and staff. This important milestone provides a strong foundation for gradually reopening our economy and getting people back to work, while protecting the health and safety of all Ontarians."

Testing is being carried out in hospitals, long-term care homes, group homes, shelters, emergency child care centres, and other congregate settings. Once test samples are collected and received from frontline staff, patients, residents and children, labs are providing test results generally within 24 to 48 hours.

To date, Ontario has conducted over 342,000 tests, with testing results being made available to patients through the user-friendly online portal. The portal was developed to help ease pressure on frontline workers, allowing them to focus their efforts on combating COVID-19.

Ford says the increased testing means, they are closer to reopening the Province.

"And as the key trends head in the right direction and the health system continues to be strengthened, it gives us the confidence that we can reopen more places safely, knowing our health professionals have our backs. It gives us the confidence that we are getting close to opening parks, that we are getting close to opening retail for curbside pickup, it gives us the confidence that we are on the right track, that collectively as a province we are doing the right things and we are taking the right steps, that we are beating this terrible, terrible virus and it tells us that we can't stop now, we need to continue looking out for each other. We need to keep taking the health advice seriously, we need to stay vigilant, and if we do, if we stay the course, we will defeat this virus, we can and we will."

The new integrated laboratory system will support the province's health care system and laboratory network far beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. The province wide testing network consists of more than 20 organizations and is coordinating and leveraging the diverse expertise located throughout the province. This is being achieved through daily check-ins and processes that address operational needs, such as:

- Levels of supplies, expected supply consumption per day, inventory replenishment and other supply chain issues
- Equipment information
- Technical capacity and advances
- Test turn-around times and the shifting of test samples to laboratories that have spare processing capacity
- Ongoing scientific and technical review of test performance
- Alternative approaches to processing
- Emerging technology

Ontario has also helped expand the capacity of public health units to conduct contact tracing and case management. Ontario's Action Plan: Responding to COVID-19 provided $100 million in additional investments for public health units to support COVID-19 monitoring and testing, including funding to support enhanced contact tracing. This funding enables public health unit s to hire more personnel.

You can find more information online here.

You can listen to Doug Ford's statement from today below.