Ontario broadens criteria to ramp up COVID-19 testing

Premier warns numbers will jump as province reports 478 new cases, 22 deaths

The vital importance of testing for the COVID-19 virus emerged as a common theme Friday across multiple federal and provincial COVID -19 briefings.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada was “continually ramping up testing” for the COVID -19 virus, noting that such tests would be “a critical part of our ability to get through the following year without the restrictions we have now.”

Nevertheless, the level of testing remains well below where it needs to be to ensure the first wave of the pandemic winds down as early as this summer. “Even in the fall,” Trudeau added, “we’ll have to live with certain restrictions.”

Trudeau presaged the Friday briefing by Ontario Premier Doug Ford by observing that Ontario was “addressing challenges” in testing.

As of Thursday, Ontario accounted for slightly less than one-quarter of 374,000 tests done across Canada even though the province represents 36 per cent of the total population.

The province’s laboratories and hospitals have upped their game in recent weeks.

It turns out unduly restrictive protocols had slowed the testing rate.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Friday the province had significantly increased the number of symptoms and circumstances that would qualify people for testing. “By significantly increasing the number of tests each day, we will identify cases early, contain them and prevent putting more people at risk,” she said.

Elliott said the province would be giving priority to certain groups, including hospital patients, residents of long-term care facilities and retirement homes, health-care employees and other front-line workers and Indigenous Canadians.

Among the additional symptoms that will qualify people for testing (upon referral from their physician) are hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of sense of smell or taste, diarrhea or nausea. This is in addition to the previously qualifying symptoms of difficulty breathing, fever and coughing.

Ford said the expanded protocol would lead to a doubling of COVID -19 tests in Ontario to 8,000 per day by April 15 and 14,000 per day by April 29.

You’re going to see the numbers jump,” Ford said.

Eventually, the province and country may have sufficient capacity to begin getting ahead of the COVID-19 curve and to begin testing people with no symptoms to determine if the virus is already shedding. This development is key to allowing people to return to work and students to resume schooling. However, achieving this state of affairs would likely require millions of tests weekly across Canada.

Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said the government was examining technologies for tracking individuals who might have or might have been exposed to the COVID-19 virus. “There are lots of different ideas,” she said during a briefing. One example would be smartphone apps that warn the owner if he or she has come into contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus or who may have done so.

Ontario health officials reported 478 new cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday afternoon, bringing the provincial total to 6,237. There were also 22 new deaths reported for a total of 222.

Ottawa Public Health on Friday reported 36 new cases of COVID -19 infection during the previous 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total to 494 lab-confirmed cases and nine deaths. There were no deaths in the previous 24 hours.

We will identify cases early, contain them and prevent putting more people at risk.