Ontario expands rapid test access, resumes non-urgent surgeries after halting during Omicron surge
CBC
Ontario is lifting a directive that ordered hospitals to halt non-urgent surgeries and announced Wednesday it will expand access to rapid tests.
The province says it will distribute COVID-19 rapid antigen tests at grocery stores, pharmacies and other settings starting Wednesday.
In a news release, the province announced it has obtained more rapid tests and will distribute up to 5.5 million per week. It will distribute up to 44 million over an eight-week span in total.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province will be lifting the non-urgent surgeries directive, allowing surgeries including cancer and heart procedures to resume in the next few days.
The directive ordered hospitals to halt non-urgent surgeries and procedures earlier this year.
Tests will be made available through online order or pickup at 2,385 participating grocery stores and pharmacies that are listed on the province's website.
Some participating retailers include Costco, Shoppers Drug Mart, Loblaws, Metro, Food Basics, Rexall, Sobeys, Real Canadian Superstore, Longo's, Walmart.
The province says it will also provide tests to 21 community-lead agencies including community centres, places of worship and food banks.
There will be a limit of one box of five tests per household, per visit, the province says. However, retailers will not be required to take down health cards or names to make sure just one test kit is distributed per household. Officials say they urge Ontarians to respect the one box per household limit.
The province says communities identified as high priority based on high historical rates of COVID-19 and other factors will have more focused, community-level distribution strategies.
This rollout will be in addition to rapid tests previously provided to high-risk sectors including the healthcare sector, congregate settings and schools, the province says.
To date, the province has distributed nearly 76 million rapid antigen tests to more than 63,600 locations, according to provincial officials.
The news comes weeks after the province restricted access to more reliable PCR tests as the Omicron variant overwhelmed testing capacity in Ontario.
The ministry said Wednesday morning that as of Tuesday, there were 2,059 people with COVID-19 in the province's hospitals. That's down from 2,254 the day before and 2,939 at the same time last week.
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