When Allen, chief of Medical Microbiology at Public Health Ontario, sent out that request Ontario had only 11 confirmed cases and had tested roughly 1,000 people. In just two weeks the Public Health Ontario (PHO) labs in Toronto and satellite sites would have a backlog of 10,000 pending tests, which would not be cleared until the beginning of April. Around the world, including at the Ontario public health laboratories, microbiologists could now test for the virus. She was recruited into the public lab system by the late Dr. Don Low, for many the face of Canada’s battle against SARS. That’s because working flat out, Ontario’s public labs with the ability to do the tests could only process 3,000 tests a day.

Source: thestar April 04, 2020 23:48 UTC