COVID-19: Testing

PUBLISHED: 01/06/2020

When it comes to re-opening economies and schools in the face of this pandemic, the key is testing, testing and testing.

With more than 80 percent of COVID cases in Ontario and Quebec, both provinces are having difficulty hitting their targets. The heat is rising on both provinces to ramp it up as they slowly start opening up. While Ontario scrambles to boost it’s testing numbers, a University of Guelph professor is talking to the province about boosting those numbers by 50 thousand. Rapid and aggressive is crucial.

When it comes to testing and information in COVID it seems there are a lot of holes in the story. It leads to confusion for Canadians in a time when clarity is key. Today we are joined by some biology and medical specialists to help us grasp the importance of testing and how they work in our new normal.

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GUESTS:

Dr.Isaac Bogoch - Associate Professor at University of Toronto in the Department of Medicine, Infectious Diseases specialist and General Internist at Toronto General Hospital - https://facdir.deptmedicine.utoronto.ca/Detail.aspx?id=2354&showdivisiontitle=1&division_id=I03

Paul Hebert, the Canada Research Chair for Molecular Biodiversity, Director of the Centre of Biodiversity Genomics at University of Guelph - https://www.uoguelph.ca/ib/hebert

Cameron Groome - CEO at Microbix - https://microbix.com/pages/our-senior-team

Ian Bron - Spokesperson at Canadian COVID-19 Accountability Group - https://carleton.ca/sppa/people/bron-ian/

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REFERENCES:

https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-covid-19-testing-shortfall-spurs-quest-for-radical-approaches-as/

https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/covid-19-testing

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/coronavirus-covid19-testing-canada-1.5527219

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/one-million-covid-19-tests-done-in-canada-but-numbers-still-falling-short-1.4926911

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/one-million-covid-19-tests-done-in-canada-but-numbers-still-falling-short-1.4926911

https://globalnews.ca/news/6818162/coronavirus-rapid-test-public-health-canada/

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2020/04/20/analysis/ontario-may-be-covid-19-peak-testing-woes-could-stall-reopening

https://www.cp24.com/news/covid-19-testing-contact-tracing-key-to-fending-off-second-wave-experts-say-1.4933581

https://www.osler.com/en/resources/regulations/2020/the-employer-s-covid-19-return-to-the-workplace-playbook

https://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/covid-19-ontario-cases-up-slightly-from-three-week-low-reported-wednesday-86-more-deaths/

https://www.guelphtoday.com/around-ontario/canada-accountability-group-calls-for-covid-19-transparency-whistleblower-protection-2374493

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/ontario-covid-19-transparency-1.5587459

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2020/05/25/accountability-group-calls-for-covid-19-transparency-whistleblower-protection-for-canadians.html

https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/experts-call-for-covid-19-accountability-reforms-896821406.html

https://globalnews.ca/news/6980167/coronavirus-ontario-testing-anyone-covid-19/

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/randall-denley-who-really-controls-ontario-covid-19-testing-and-reopening-rates-unfortunately-not-doug-ford

https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-should-start-testing-asymptomatic-people-for-covid-19-infectious-disease-expert-says-1.4948093

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dpm3eQqdfZGLy_YvyK6Sw59mjLA9V3Oa/view