Ontario stepping up its testing capacity
Rise in completed tests shows plan to boost resources is working
Ontario’s testing capacity for COVID-19 is catching up to the number of new tests that are authorized each day.
On Wednesday, Ontario reported it completed 2,763 tests the previous day, and authorized 3,178 new tests. The 2,763 tests completed is the largest single day number of tests processed at Ontario labs since the outbreak began. Prior to that, the tally for a single day’s completed tests hovered around 2,000 or lower. The number of tests authorized each day ranges between 3,000 and 4,000, though the number dips below 2,000 on the weekend.
Ontario’s rise in completed tests is a sign that the province’s plan to bring on more testing resources, particularly in hospitals as well as the provincial lab, is working.
However, there are still 10,489 tests in the Ontario system listed as “results are pending.”
A test is listed as “authorized” when a nasal or throat swab is taken from a patient. As the Star has previously reported, in Ontario it can take four to seven days for that sample to be processed and the results given to the patient and public health authorities. Ontario residents who have contacted the Star as recently as Wednesday say they are still awaiting results taken roughly a week ago. Public Health Ontario officials say they hope to eventually get that number down to a few days or less. The actual lab work for the test only takes six hours.
The Star’s ongoing review of test results also shows that Ontario’s disturbing testing result trend continues in the same direction, with a slightly higher percentage of daily completed tests showing positive each day, and a slightly lower percentage showing negative for the virus each day. Ontario does not reveal enough information behind the data for the Star to determine who is being tested in each case. Testing of people with more severe symptoms or people known to have contact with a positive case will be more likely to test positive, which will skew the results.
A recent Star story revealed how in Ontario and across Canada, public health is now focusing on high-risk people with symptoms — front-line healthcare and social services workers, along with the very sick who go to hospital emergency departments for treatment. All others who have mild symptoms are encouraged to recover at home, and only go to emergency if they experience severe shortness of breath, chest pains or extreme lethargy.