Premier Doug Ford says some of the province’s local medical officers are falling behind on coronavirus testing, as the number of tests completed in Ontario has fallen for a second consecutive day.
In April, the provincial government set a goal of reaching 16,000 tests per day by May 6 and beginning last week, that number was surpassed, reaching a high in Sunday’s report of more than 17,100 tests conducted.
That number has since dropped, falling to just over 14,500 tests in Monday’s report and nearly 10,700 in Tuesday’s.
“I was on here the last few days saying they’re doing a great job, they were hitting 17,000 consistently and then all of a sudden you come in and you see the 10,000,” Ford said.
“There’s certain medical officers in certain jurisdictions — now keep in mind we have 34 chief medical officers across the province — some just aren’t performing. I’m calling them out right now. You’ve got to pick up the pace.”
His comments come one day after he touted the province’s testing numbers, saying they passed an “important milestone.”
Ford wouldn’t name the medical officers, but said “they know who they are” and added that he would be having a call with them over the coming days.
“You have a whole bunch of them, half of them, really exceeding expectations and then you have some others that just aren’t even putting the work in as far as I can see,” he said.
- ‘She gets to be 10’: Ontario child’s heart donated to girl the same age
- Bird flu risk to humans an ‘enormous concern,’ WHO says. Here’s what to know
- Buzz kill? Gen Z less interested in coffee than older Canadians, survey shows
- Shoppers faces proposed class action over claims company is ‘abusive’ to pharmacists
“So we need to hold these people accountable.”
During his daily press conference Tuesday afternoon, the province’s chief medical officer of health was asked about Ford’s comments.
Dr. David Williams said while he didn’t hear all of Ford’s remarks, he has recently been in touch with local health units that have fallen behind in testing.
He said some of them expressed concerns regarding the amount of supplies, including some units that were ready to conduct tests on the weekend but didn’t receive either adequate supply or the correct swabs.
Williams said the recent drop in testing may also be attributed to weekend lag, but acknowledged there are “system issues” that need to be addressed.
“We don’t need excuses, we need solutions,” he said.
Joe Cressy, the chairman of Toronto’s board of health, said Ford’s comments were “inaccurate.”
“Testing is the responsibility of the province. Public Health Ontario was established in part for just this purpose,” Cressy said on Twitter.
The Ontario NDP also criticized the Ford government for the drop in tests in a statement Tuesday.
“Since March, the government has consistently missed its own testing targets,” it read.
NDP Leader Andrea Howrath also said, “The buck stops with Mr. Ford.”
The Ford government announced in 2019 that it planned to begin a merger of public health units in 2020 and 2021, saying it would strengthen the system. The government said the current system didn’t allow for consistent delivery.
Critics, however, said the amalgamation could jeopardize services and result in front-line layoffs when coupled with changes to public health cost-sharing.
Ford said on Tuesday that following the pandemic, there will be a review of the province’s health-care reporting system.
“After this is over we need to review it and start looking at the Alberta model,” Ford said.
“It’s a lot easier to have one person in control than 34 people in control. I’ll tell you right now I’m disappointed in the chief medical officers in certain regions … Start picking up your socks and start doing testing.”
— With files from The Canadian Press
Comments