Ontario expands guidelines for virus testing

Ottawa to discuss additional supports for provinces in tackling outbreaks in long-term care homes

Ontario expanded its priority COVID-19 testing Thursday to include essential workers, residents and staff of homeless shelters and group homes, and people living with healthcare workers. The new guidelines will help Ontario take full advantage of the testing capacity it has built, and will help the province more effectively identify and contain cases among vulnerable populations, said a spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott. Premier Doug Ford has expressed frustration that Ontario has been processing a daily number of tests well below its capacity, which is now up to 16,000. On Thursday, the province reported completing 9,001 tests during the previ

ous day, surpassing a target the health minister set last week after the premier said his patience had worn thin.

“We’ve hit our first target and we’re going to keep ramping up our efforts until we hit 14,000 tests a day by the end of this month,” Ford said Thursday.

In March, the province said it would be running 18,900 tests a day by mid-April.

The new testing guidelines say people living and working in “congregate” settings such as homeless shelters, correctional facilities and group homes should be tested as soon as possible if they have symptoms.

Symptoms are now defined as fever, pneumonia, “any new or worsening symptom” such as cough or shortness of breath, sore throat, runny nose, sneezing, or nasal congestion, hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, new smell or taste disorders, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, or abdominal pain.

Essential workers, cross-border workers, and people living with health-care workers, care providers and first responders are also now to be tested as soon as possible if they develop symptoms.

The guidelines also say people who need to be in frequent contact with the health system, including cancer patients, people undergoing dialysis, anyone pre- or post-transplant and pregnant women should be tested as soon as they develop symptoms.