TORONTO -- Residents of Ontario who have been tested for COVID-19 can now view their results online.
The Ford government has launched an online portal where residents can check their lab results from home.
"The Viewer is connected to the Ministry’s Ontario Laboratories Information System (“OLIS”) database, which contains your laboratory test information, including your COVID-19 test report, submitted to the Ministry by participating laboratories across Ontario," a statement on the page says.
"With this new portal, patients will be able to access their test results faster from the safety of their home," said Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, in a government press release. "It will help reduce the burden on our public health units and frontline health workers, allowing them to focus their efforts where they are needed most during this challenging time."
Patients will be required to verify their identity on the portal using information on their photo health card. Those who do not have a valid Ontario Health Card or still have a red and white card, are asked to contact their local Public Health Unit.
As of April 2, Ontario had conducted 62,733 tests, with 2,052 results pending.
Per capita, Ontario lags behind all other provinces and territories in its testing efforts. According to analysis by the Globe and Mail and broadcast on CTV National News, Ontario performed 426.4 tests per 100,000 people. Alberta leads the country in per capita testing at 1204.2 tests per 100,000.
Public Health units can now recruit volunteers
In an effort to provide more flexibility to public health units in the province, the Ontario government issued a new emergency order under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act to allow public health units to recruit volunteers, such as retired nurses and medical students, to perform work such as case and contact management, regardless of any collective agreements.
This new order came into effect Friday.
The government says the move follows a recommendation by Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. David Williams for all health units to implement more aggressive contact tracing and case management in order to stem the increase of community transmission of the virus.
As of April 2, there were 2,793 cases of COVID-19 in Ontario. 53 people have died and 831 have recovered. 405 patients with COVID-19 in Ontario were hospitalized, 167 were in intensive care and, of those, 112 were on ventilators.
