Hamilton Public Health waiting for details from Ontario's new COVID-19 testing strategy

Ontario Premier Doug Ford's calls for anyone and everyone to get tested for COVID-19 has Hamilton's medical officer of health waiting for answers on how to manage various aspects of the new testing protocol.

In a virtual media briefing on Monday, Dr. Elizabeth Richardson said the city hasn't received any details of the provincial government's new testing strategy.

When asked about if asymptomatic people need to self-isolate after being tested for the virus, Richardson said for now, they are still using policies that say anyone getting tested for COVID-19 must self-isolate until they get a negative result — even if those policies may not need to apply to everyone any longer.

"These are some of the things when we get the full testing strategy, which we expect anytime now, we'll get those little items clarified," she explained. 

"For those who are asymptomatic who may not have had contact, it may no longer make sense for that to happen."

While Richardson said they knew the province would introduce a revamped testing strategy, they still don't have many answers. 

At a news conference Sunday, Premier Doug Ford said anyone who feels they need a test will be able to get it at one of the province's 129 COVID-19 assessment centres, even if they are asymptomatic.

A memo from the Ministry of Health, however, raised questions about whether that is indeed the case. The memo, circulated Sunday, suggests that contact with a confirmed or suspected case of COVID-19 is among the requirements for a test to proceed.

It did not specify what level of a person's contact with a confirmed or suspected case would be necessary for a test to be administered.

Ford said on Monday the province plans to launch "the next steps" of its testing strategy in the coming days. The first steps of that plan began this weekend, he said, with testing of hospital workers — symptomatic or not — and inmates and staff in correctional facilities.

Ontario COVID-19 testing to focus on 'hot spots' in three regions, says premier

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Premier Doug Ford says the testing will be narrowed to some postal codes that are 'lighting up like a Christmas tree' and need greater attention.

Ford also asked people who live in Ontario's COVID-19 "hotspots" to get tested for the virus — but officials won't specify which neighbourhoods have been hardest hit.

Amid the inconsistent messages from the province, one of the questions for the city is whether Hamilton has the resources in place to handle a surge in testing.

"It's likely we'll see an uptick and we are seeing an uptick in the people who want to go [get tested] ... if we continue to see a large number of people, we're definitely going to need additional ways of doing testing through those assessment centres, either another site or some way to lengthen hours," Richardson explained.

"We're going to continue to work on it to see how we can do this, but there are a large number of other partners being engaged with this now besides the ones that existed up until now."

Despite provincial calls for rapid testing of anyone who wants it, Richardson said assessment centres are still booking appointments to avoid any confusion and are looking to speed up that process.