Beginning today, COVID-19 testing will be available at some Ontario pharmacies. Details were announced in Huntsville Wednesday by Premier Doug Ford and health minister Christine Elliott.
A news release said the plan is to provide citizens with convenient and timely access to free COVID-19 testing at 60 pharmacies — none of them are in Northern Ontario — in a bid to expand testing well beyond the 150 assessment centres already set up by the province through hospitals and public health units.
The province said more locations will be established and revealed "in the coming weeks.” The locations opening Sept. 25 include several pharmacies in Toronto, in Brampton, in Mississauga, in Ottawa, with one in Markham and one in Huntsville, about 120 kilometres from North Bay.
The premier said it only made sense to use pharmacies as partners in the test program.
"We rely on our pharmacists for our flu shots, prescriptions, and important health advice for ourselves and our families. It makes sense to engage them as key partners in delivering more COVID-19 testing," said Ford.
"I have to thank Shoppers Drug Mart, Rexall, and the independent pharmacies who have stepped up in a big way to help expand testing to more people in the province. With everyone pitching in, we are well on our way to reaching our goal of 50,000 tests a day and stopping the spread of COVID-19," said the release.
Under the new program participating pharmacies may choose to provide testing for Ontarians who have no COVID-19 symptoms. Individuals, within provincial testing guidance, will be able to visit select pharmacies by appointment only, where they will be pre-screened and then tested at no charge.
When visiting a pharmacy Ontarians should continue to follow COVID-19 public health measures, including wearing a face covering, frequent handwashing, and maintaining physical distance from those outside their household or social circle, said the release.
The health minister also revealed there is a plan to increase the number of pharmacies involved in the testing program, but no other details were provided.
In addition to the pharmacy testing announcement, Women's College, Mount Sinai and University Health Network―Toronto Western Hospital assessment centres will be offering saliva testing this week. More assessment centres will offer this less invasive method in the coming weeks, giving Ontarians more options to access testing for COVID-19, said the Ministry of Health.
