The mayor of London asked, and the premier of Ontario said yes.
Mayor Ed Holder announced Friday afternoon that Premier Doug Ford will allow pharmacies in London to offer COVID-19 testing. Earlier in the week, the provincial government announced that testing would be available in pharmacies in the Greater Toronto Area, Ottawa, and Huntsville. Mayor Holder then called on the government to allow testing in pharmacies in London.
"In my call to the premier's office, I made clear the dire need for expanded testing here in London and the immediate surrounding area," Mayor Holder said in a statement issued Friday afternoon. "Londoners simply need more options. Providing pharmacies in our city with the necessary resources to conduct COVID-19 tests will certainly assist in reducing extreme wait times at our Oakridge and Carling Heights assessment centres."
The long lineups at the two assessment centres were once again very long on Friday, and both reached capacity for the day. The Middlesex London Health Unit announced that the Carling Heights centre had reached capacity an hour before it was scheduled to open.
According to Mayor Holder, a few pharmacies will start offering testing as early as Tuesday. He added specific locations will be revealed soon.
Under provincial guidelines, only people who are asymptomatic are to seek testing at a pharmacy. Anyone seeking testing at a pharmacy will also have to be someone who is a contact of a confirmed positive case, lives or works in at-risk settings like long term care facilities, plans to visit a long term care home, is a worker or resident at a specific outbreak site, or is eligible for testing as part of a targeted testing initiative as determined by the Ministry of Health or Ministry of Long-term Care.
Testing at a pharmacy will also require an appointment.