Pharmacies and the fall preparedness plan
Some pharmacies will begin offering COVID-19 testing to asymptomatic people as early as Friday, Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Christine Elliott announced Wednesday.
The plan is not a surprise — Ford has been talking about it, with varying levels of detail, since last month. The testing will be free and by-appointment-only at "up to" 60 pharmacies, and it follows a similar plan initially rolled out in Alberta in June.
The announcement is part of the government's fall preparedness plan, which Ford has been slowly rolling out all week.
"Tomorrow, we'll have more to say about our testing strategy, as well as preventing and managing outbreaks," he said Wednesday. "This is all part of our comprehensive plan for the fall. My friends, this is a team effort. We're moving mountains, we are pioneering a lot of firsts. We're using every tool in our tool box, because we know what we're up against. And we won't be caught off guard with an army of pharmacists, nurses, doctors, and all 14-and-a-half-million people in this province."
It's unclear how much the pharmacy testing will help ease the demand at assessment centres. Ford could not give any figures for how many people will be tested a day by pharmacies, nor could he give any estimate of how many people are currently being turned away.
While many assessment centres have been expanding their hours, anecdotal reports of overwhelming demand continue. In one egregious example, the Grand River Hosptial announced at 7:14 a.m. that its drive-thru testing clinic had already reached capacity.
Good morning #KWawesome. Our drive-thru testing clinic is at capacity for this morning. We will be asking those who arrive to leave. We cannot estimate when we will take new arrivals. Thank you for your ongoing patience and understanding.
— Grand River Hospital (@grhospitalkw) September 23, 2020
Elliott went on to say the fall plan can be tailored for the worst-case scenario.
"We are preparing for the worst, we had several scenarios modelled for us earlier on that indicated that we might be doing just a slow burn with some small peaks and valleys, or they might be larger peaks and valleys or like for the worst-case scenario, there could be a sharp spike in cases across the province," she said. "So we're following that on a daily basis and we have prepared for the worst."
For his part, Ford said he could not rule out shutting schools down again saying, "everything's on the table." But he reiterated comments Education Minister Stephen Lecce had made earlier in the day that the system of cohorting students and containing outbreaks is working so far.
As of the province's Wednesday-morning update, there were 180 school-related cases, 42 of them newly reported. Overall, 153 schools had cases and two were closed. There were 335 new cases reported in the province and three new deaths. Meanwhile, 31 long-term care homes had outbreaks, an increase of two from the day before.
Blame Health Canada
Ford also announced that three hospitals — Women's College, Mount Sinai and University Health Network's Toronto Western Hospital — will be offering saliva-based testing at their assessment centres as of this week and more hospitals are expected to come on board. Elliott said the first hospitals are running a test project, administering the nasopharyngeal tests at the same time, to determine the effectiveness of the saliva testing.
But Ford launched into streams of complaints about Health Canada's slow movement on approving alternative testing methods during his press conference, as he has in recent days. On Wednesday, he blamed that slow movement for the lineups at assessment centres.
"The reason there's lineups, very simply, Health Canada, we've been waiting for months for these antigen tests, the saliva test," he said. "And you know, something, God bless them ... they work hard, but they need to start moving on this. This is what's affecting the whole system. Nothing is more important to the people of Ontario right now than getting Health Canada to approve the test."
He said he's heard "crickets" in response from the federal bureaucracy.
"I don't know how many times I got to do cartwheels up here and scream out to Health Canada that just start approving these tests, you've had enough time. And it's just not happening. So it's frustrating to say the least."
In the throne speech, the Trudeau government said it is "pursuing every technology and every option for faster tests for Canadians" and will do everything it can to see them deployed, once they are approved.
"The federal government will be there to help the provinces increase their testing capacity," the governor general read. "Canadians should not be waiting in line for hours to get a test."
Long-term care recruitment
Meanwhile, the province is taking a step to boost the ranks of personal support workers in long-term care and home care, offering a $5,000 incentive to recent graduates in exchange for a six-month commitment in either field. It comes as employers have warned about the inability to recruit staff as the second wave approaches and staffing shortages in long-term care homes during the first wave of the pandemic left vulnerable residents neglected.
.@OntarioHealthOH has a new return of service program incentivizing PSWs to work in LTC homes: https://t.co/NfMOo106u6
This is a smart policy to help address staffing shortages—Ontario still needs:
-Fair and full-time pay with benefits for LTC staff
-Accelerated training of PSWs pic.twitter.com/FD8rrX61w0— Nathan Stall (@NathanStall) September 23, 2020
Procedure backlog
Meanwhile, the Ontario Medical Association called on the province "for an immediate and significant infusion of resources" to address the backlog in medically necessary care and surgeries.
"Clearing this backlog is enormously challenging within our current model. It is essential that we look at innovative patient-focused solutions," said OMA President Dr. Samantha Hill in a press release. "Ontario's doctors are calling for immediate action to ensure patients receive the highest quality of care as quickly as possible."
The OMA asked the province to fund "COVID-19 hospital sites" within a region to isolate known COVID-19 cases from other patients and allow the remainder of hospitals to focus on addressing the backlog, to provide support for community clinics, to fund operating rooms in existing spaces to be open longer and to fund alternative sites for medical procedures.
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