The province has announced a pilot project to test travellers for COVID-19 at Toronto’s Pearson airport.
The testing will be offered free and on a voluntary basis for international travellers arriving and staying in the province for at least 14 days.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon that the program will offer “an extra layer of protection” to the recently announced federal order requiring international travellers arriving in Canada to show proof of a negative COVID test.
Space at Terminal 1 and 3 at Pearson will be dedicated to the testing. Elliott says that eligible travellers will be able to pre-register for the program or get tested when they arrive at the airport. The minister says results will be available within 48 hours for those taking part in the program. The province announced testing guidelines for outbound travellers last month.
Premier Doug Ford described the program as “a game-changer,” despite data showing that travellers arriving from outside the country account for only about 1 per cent of all COVID cases in the province.
The premier was careful not to blame international travellers and the feds for rising COVID numbers in Ontario as he did before the holidays. The premier claimed at the time that the borders are “leaking like a sieve.”
He said Wednesday that the province continues to work with the federal government on plans to establish a testing program at Pearson, including a modified quarantine period for travellers who test negative for the virus.
However, the premier, who hasn’t held a public briefing since December 22, faced more questions at the press conference over his government’s handling of the rollout of vaccines, which was paused for a two-day period over the holidays.
He said that, contrary to media reports, “There’s no vaccine sitting in any freezers… we’re running out of vaccines.”
When it was pointed out by one reporter that there are enough vaccines in the province to vaccinate all residents in long-term care homes where outbreaks are surging, the premier claimed that he has only been following advice from the vaccine manufacturers and federal government not to distribute them.
He said the province only received notice of the latest shipment of vaccines 24 hours before they arrived, suggesting that logistics is not the problem.
“We’re throwing everything at it that we can,” he said, “and picking up on the vaccinations.”
The premier was also asked if elementary schools will remain closed beyond January 11 as the number of COVID cases continues to climb. He said an answer to that question would be forthcoming over the “next couple of days.”
But he said that he’s not prepared to consider a curfew just yet, even as critics suggest that what we have now in the province is not a true lockdown.
The province reported 3,266 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
