What we know so far about Ontario's changes to its pandemic response
CBC
Ontario announced a slew of changes to testing and isolation guidelines in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic as the Omicron variant continues to rip through the province.
Here's what we know so far:
What changed with testing?
Previously, anyone with symptoms of COVID-19 could get a publicly funded PCR test. Now, only those on an eligibility list can get a test.
That list includes people considered at high risk of serious illness from the virus, including hospitalized patients, patients in emergency departments at the discretion of a doctor and people on admission/transfer to or from hospital or congregate living setting.
Also eligible are patient-facing health-care workers and staff, residents, essential care providers and visitors in hospitals and congregate living settings, such as long-term care, retirement homes, First Nation elder care lodges, group homes, shelters, hospices, temporary foreign worker settings and correctional institutions
Outpatients for whom COVID-19 treatment is being considered can get tested, as can people who are underhoused or homeless.
So too can symptomatic elementary and secondary students and education staff who have received a PCR self-collection kit through their school, along with people who are from First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities and individuals travelling into those communities for work.
High-risk contacts and asymptomatic people can also be tested in the context of confirmed or suspected outbreaks in high-risk settings, such as hospitals, long-term care homes and other congregate living settings and institutions, and other settings as directed by the local public health units.
The province has not said if or when testing will become available to the general public again.
What does everyone else who is not eligible do if they have symptoms?
They must isolate for five days from the onset of symptoms if they are vaccinated or are under the age of 12. Household members must also isolate with them. Those not vaccinated with two doses and the immunocompromised must isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms.
How will the province keep track of COVID-19 cases if they can't test everyone?
The provincial government did not say how it would monitor the rate of COVID-19 in the community, and did not respond to a request for comment Friday.