Ford must release free COVID-19 tests
In December 2013, Premier Doug Ford — then Toronto city councillor Doug Ford — distributed cold hard cash to Torontonians in the lobby of a community housing complex.
In September 2018, the premier tweeted “Everything is FREE!” alongside a virtual invitation to Ford Fest, the Ford family’s legendary mass offering of complimentary BBQ meats. I attended Ford Fest a few years prior, where I enjoyed not one but two free hot dogs.
All of this is to say that clearly it’s in Doug Ford’s nature to dole out freebies to constituents in a totally inappropriate context.
Why then is the premier withholding freebies when the context couldn’t be more appropriate?
Premier: hot dogs and cash are a wonderful combination. But in this winter of Omicron, Ontarians need a different one. We need free and easy access to rapid antigen tests that we can administer at home. This is the freebie you must dole out right now. This is the freebie you should have doled out yesterday.
On Monday, Toronto Public Health announced it was investigating Toronto’s first school case of the Omicron variant at an elementary school in Scarborough. Cases in general are trending upward. The holidays are approaching. Doctors warn that early next year, the provincial health care system will likely be under even more strain than it is now.
We had hoped vaccines would render them unnecessary but it appears it’s time, once again, to dust off the foreboding pandemic metaphors. We are headed in the wrong direction. We must use every tool in our tool box to reverse course.
Rapid tests are a great tool. Not only do they have a strong accuracy rate when used correctly, they are often painless (a major plus for today’s children who fear the PCR swab). Are they a perfect substitute for PCR lab tests? No. But they are, to borrow the provincial government’s favourite COVID-ism, a legitimate “added layer of protection.”
“Rapid testing is an important tool in our efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep our residents safe,” says the city’s busiest person, Toronto Board of Health chair Joe Cressy. “It’s one tool, but an important one. The more widely available and accessible testing is, especially during the holiday season as people gather together, the better.”
Unfortunately, they aren’t widely available. What they are (unless you’re a business owner who meets the province’s criteria) is expensive — 40 bucks a pop at a pharmacy.
The provincial government has promised to send schoolchildren home with a box of five rapid antigen tests each for the winter holidays. But why stop there?
Ontario has several million tests sitting around collecting dust. The province should dole out every last one of them before Christmas. What exactly is the premier waiting for? Even more health-care professionals to declare he needs to move fast on this?
Social media is on fire (as usual) with health-care voices demanding Ontario “release the rapid antigen tests.” Currently, a petition penned by Ontario ICU nurse Birgit Umaigba is being shared widely urging Ford to “provide free COVID-19 rapid antigen tests to every household in Ontario.”
“Little doubt Omicron will become the next dominant variant,” Toronto infectious disease specialist Abdu Sharkawy tweeted on Tuesday morning. “To prevent a 5th wave of morbidity & mortality, more restrictions, school closures, rapid tests should be made widely accessible. Simple, cost-effective tool.”
A simple cost-effective tool for a lucky few. As it tends to go in this godforsaken pandemic, two classes of Ontarians are emerging. Those who can afford to shell out hundreds of dollars to keep their pantries stocked with rapid antigen tests and those who can’t.
We should be entering a holiday season in which home testing is free for everyone.
Instead, Ontarians who likely need rapid tests the least are buying them in droves in order to test their loved ones prior to holiday parties hosted in affluent neighbourhoods with high vaccine uptake. Meanwhile, those who need the tests the most — people in low-income communities with low vaccine uptake — are left hoping for the best.
New variant. Same old story.