Ford asks health officials to deliver testing plan

TORONTO Premier Doug Ford said Thursday he has asked health officials to deliver a plan for expanded COVID -19 testing next week, after Ontario’s testing rates dropped in recent days and continue to lag well behind its capacity.

Ford said he wants as many members of the public as possible to be tested, including people without symptoms. Until that is done, he said, Ontario can’t get a true picture of how many asymptomatic cases it has.

The premier said he wants to see truck drivers, taxi drivers, frontline health-care staff, automotive workers and those in food manufacturing facilities tested, as well as childcare and school staff once those facilities reopen.

Ford also mused about increased testing by postal code, in hot spots that are “glowing on the map like a lit-up Christmas tree,” even suggesting using mobile testing vans.

Ford vowed to ramp up Ontario’s testing levels.

“I’ll be like an 800-pound gorilla on their backs every single day if I have to until I see those numbers go up,” Ford said.

Ontario completed 10,506 tests in the previous day, marking a fourth straight day it fell short of its goal of doing at least 16,000, and well short of its capacity of more than 21,000.

A testing blitz of every long-term care resident and staff member was finished over the weekend. Health officials have said they expected to see much more demand for tests under new criteria allowing any symptomatic person to be tested, but it didn’t materialize over the long weekend.

The Canadian Press