Canada has the capacity to test about 60,000 people each day, but is averaging about only 28,000 daily tests
OTTAWA — The federal government is ready to help provinces massively scale up their COVID-19 testing capacity to fend off a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday.
Trudeau said he’s received positive responses from across Canada so far and planned to further discuss the offer on his weekly call with provincial and territorial premiers Thursday. Even in areas with a low number of new cases, Trudeau said governments need to be able to instantly increase their testing capacity in the event of fresh outbreaks.In Ontario, the province has fallen far short of its goal of 16,000 tests per day. On Tuesday, the latest day for which figures are available, the province completed only 10,506 tests. In Quebec, only 9,582 tests were completed on Monday, according to the latest figures.
“We’re going to make sure we ramp it up,” Ford said in a briefing Thursday. “Can I give you an exact date? I can’t. I’m pushing the table as hard as I can.”
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