Ontario's low testing numbers caused by fewer people going to assessment centres: Ford
Premier Doug Ford said the the province’s low numbers for COVID-19 testing are because fewer people are going to assessment centres.
On Tuesday, when the premier was asked about why 24,049 tests were completed in one day—which is the lowest number in sometime— Ford said “we can’t force people to come in for a test.”
The province said they wanted to be at 50,000 tests a day by mid-October.
“We’re encouraging people to go in hotspots to get tested with pop up testing. If you’re showing symptoms please get tested,” Ford said.
“People aren’t coming in…maybe people aren’t showing the symptoms? But please come in and get tested. We just haven’t been able to get enough people there.”
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The premier noted that the testing backlog has been “cleaned up” and people can now get a result within 24 or 48 hours.
On October 2, the province announced they would no longer be taking walk-ins at assessments in order to help with the backlog.
The province has continued mobile testing and pop-up testing centres to reach vulnerable populations and provide targeted testing for long-term care and congregate care.
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