there are, however, a number of obvious solutions.
b.c. has done it, ontario is lagging
dr. bonnie henry, truly british columbia’s top doctor, has introduced the
swish and spit test kit
for b.c. children and says, “the collection method has been validated, and compared to a swab, it works just as well.” such testing doesn’t require a trained professional, and can be done in schools or at home. this week, premier doug ford followed b.c.’s lead and
announced
that saliva tests will be put into use at three ontario hospitals.
the kids
ontario is working on redefining which symptoms in children mandate a covid test. the first to go,
according to the province’s education minister
include sore throat, nasal congestion and abdominal pain. this is a helpful guidance change, and will not only reduce the burden of unnecessary testing, but also relieve the frustration of parents.
shorter wait times, rapid results
rapid point of care testing also needs to be implemented so that businesses could have testing done onsite with shorter wait times and, more importantly, rapid results that don’t take one or two days. the vast majority of people being tested are precautionary and test negative, yet still, remain in limbo while waiting for a result.
pharmacy testing
the ontario government recently
announced
the welcome addition of testing asymptomatic people in pharmacies. while this move will alleviate the burden at conventional testing centres, it will also require careful scheduling and streaming to keep these people away from healthy shoppers.