Category: covid testing

covid testing, Covid-19, Parkdale - High Park

Cold or Covid? Getting tested in Parkdale – High Park

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On the first of this month, I started coughing. Fortunately, had no fever or loss of taste. It felt like a common cold. Nonetheless, I decided to stay home for a week to not spread my cold, but also because in the context of the pandemic, there was always the possibility that it could be more than a cold. A week later my symptoms went away, but after taking the Ontario self-assessment I realized that coughing can be a symptom of Covid. So, I used the Ontario website to find a nearby test location.

The nearest test location to me was not in the High Park area where I live, but rather a pharmacy on Bloor West near Lansdowne, the Bloordale Pharmacy. Only a 15-minute walk away. I called them to book an appointment, and they tested me outdoors just outside the pharmacy to be safe. They later informed me that I could visit the Ontario website to access the results of my PCR test.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, I still have the old red and white OHIP card, so I was not able to access my results online (I’m scheduled to get my new OHIP photo card in January of next year). However, the manager at Bloordale Pharmacy called me two days after the test to let me know that the results were negative.

As someone who had received two doses and works from home, I was relieved but not entirely surprised with the negative result, and thankful that the very professional staff at the Bloordale Pharmacy were able to accommodate me so quickly.

Hopefully, you have a safe and healthy Holiday season. If you have symptoms, please strongly consider taking the Ontario self-assessment to determine if you should get a test. Naturally, anyone experiencing signs of severe illness should go to the nearest emergency department, and if not well enough to take transportation call 911.

Important links:

Ontario Covid self-assessment https://covid-19.ontario.ca/self-assessment/

Ontario Covid test locations https://covid-19.ontario.ca/covid-19-test-and-testing-location-information

City of T.O. Covid testing information https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/covid-19-what-you-should-do/covid-19-assessment-centres/

PS While the pharmacy test experience worked well for me, some may prefer to go to a hospital for a test, such as St. Joseph’s. So, please visit the Ontario Covid test locations site if you are going to take a test to understand your options. And always call in advance to book your appointment. Finally, if you have been exposed to a confirmed case you should be tested even if you have no symptoms.

Cold or Covid?

covid testing, Covid-19, Parkdale - High Park

Fighting Covid at the Runnymede Theatre

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The Runnymede Theatre then and now. Picture to the left courtesy of Toronto Public Library.

I have been fortunate to live in the Bloor West area for over 20 years. The neighbourhood appealed to me even way back when I was a teenager growing up in Scarborough. One day in the mid ‘80s my high school buddy Colin, a connoisseur of repertoire foreign cinema, convinced me to skip school and take the subway all the way from Kennedy Station to Runnymede to watch a movie with him at the Runnymede Theatre. This was my first time in the neighbourhood, and right away Bloor West Village impressed me with its cafes, bakeries, restaurants, flower shops, and long sidewalks. Things which are not easy to find in Scarborough in one spot. I love old theatres and the Runnymede Theatre was beautiful.


When I moved to the Bloor West area in the early 2000’s the Runnymede Theatre had become a Chapters bookstore, where I would spend countless hours browsing with friends and eventually buying so many books. It is fair to say this building holds special memories for me. So, I cannot honestly say I was thrilled to see it become a Shoppers Drug Mart years later, but I was still happy to see this heritage building remain intact.

Who back in the ‘80s or ‘90s would have thought the Runnymede Theatre would later become a pharmacy and thus play a key role in fighting a global pandemic by providing vaccines and antigen tests? As someone with elderly parents I was strongly motivated to be vaccinated and managed to receive my two doses quickly this past summer: the first dose in a Shoppers Drug Mart in Brampton (back in May that was the closest vaccine location available for me at the time); and the second dose at the Metro Convention Centre in late June.


One of my goals this year was to meet my youngest niece who was born last year in the US. Travel restrictions made it impossible to meet her in person, so, I only had seen her in FaceTime and Zoom for about a year. When air travel to the US became possible, I got a Covid antigen test at the former Runnymede Theatre, now the Bloor West Village Shoppers. The antigen test is a requirement to travel to the US, even for those who have received two doses of the vaccine. As expected, for someone with two doses and who works from home, the test result was negative. So, I was finally able to fly, and needless to say it was a thrill to meet my niece in person.


I hope the Runnymede Theatre is never demolished. Or if it were to be demolished, I wish it lasts for “10,000 years” like the love story in the beautiful Hong Kong film Chungking Express. This wonderful building reminds me of watching classic foreign-language movies, wonderful reads, spending time with great friends, and the antigen test that allowed me to at long last meet my youngest niece.

covid testing, Covid-19, Ontario, Parkdale - High Park, Public health, Public safety

More indoor workplace closures, less outdoor restrictions

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Section 22 of Ontario’s Health Protection and Promotion Act gives medical officers of health the authority to close a workplace for a specified period:

https://www.ontario.ca/laws/statute/90h07#BK27

The region of Peel has recently used this power to close workplaces where they have been Covid outbreaks affecting five or more employees:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/peel-covid-businesses-closed-section-22-1.5994257

The evidence is clear that transmission is mostly occurring in indoor workplaces. Consequently, these new orders should help decelerate the spread of Covid.

MIT Develops a Method to Assess COVID-19 Transmission Risks Indoors

Physically distant outdoor activities, on the other hand, should be encouraged not restricted, since they are relatively low risk. Furthermore, the rest of Ontario including T.O. needs to follow the lead of the region of Peel and close immediately workplaces where there have been Covid outbreaks. This action combined with other effective measures, such as paid sick leave, workplace health inspections, more testing and vaccinations will put an end to Ontario’s third wave. As always take care and stay safe.

Focus on indoor workplace transmissions

Update:

First the bad news, the public tennis courts in High Park are closed. The good news is that T.O. Public Health today announced it will close workplaces to manage Covid 19 outbreaks.

https://www.toronto.ca/news/toronto-public-health-issues-section-22-class-order-to-close-workplaces-to-manage-covid-19-outbreaks/

covid testing, Covid-19, Public health

Rapid Covid Testing for LTC, Schools, and Workplaces

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While the recent Covid news cycle focused on new travel restrictions and delays in receiving vaccines, under the radar was a January report by an expert panel that recommended the implementation of rapid Covid testing in the following places:

  • schools
  • work settings, and
  • communal living facilities e.g. Long-Term Care (LTC)

Here is the full report from the Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel:

Priority strategies to optimize testing and screening for COVID-19 in Canada: Report

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-health-products/covid19-industry/medical-devices/testing-screening-advisory-panel/reports-summaries/priority-strategies.html

While new travel restrictions due to Covid variants are important, and so is having our population inoculated, there is still the problem of community transmission that was never properly addressed in Toronto and for that matter, Ontario. In fact, the UK variant is already in Ontario. And a new more contagious variant could result in more deaths. So, using rapid Covid testing in places that are at high risk for community transmission is a must.

Let me be perfectly clear, there is no excuse for not having widespread rapid testing already in place today in Ontario. Nova Scotia has been using rapid testing effectively months ago.

https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/nova-scotia-embraced-rapid-testing-for-covid-19-months-ago-why-have-other-provinces-been-so-slow

Furthermore, while it is encouraging to see some Canadian workplaces, such as Canada Post, recently embrace rapid Covid testing, a quick jurisdictional review shows that several international companies implemented Covid testing for their workers back in the spring, last year. For example, Canadian employers are way behind in Covid testing compared to a company in Manila that started testing their employees back in May 2020.

SMC starts COVID-19 testing for 70,000 workers

To those that believe that the accuracy of rapid Covid tests or Covid tests in general presents a problem note that scientifically no test is free from false positives or false negatives. And rapid Covid tests have been used effectively in Taiwan to beat Covid. Look where Taiwan is today (practically Covid zero) and look where we are today in Ontario and Canada, enough said.

Taiwan’s coronavirus protocol might be seen as ‘extreme’ to Canadians, but it works

To say that Ontario and Canada have been late in implementing widespread Covid testing is quite an understatement. So, it is time to drop our partisanship. If you are Conservative stop defending the Premier of Ontario. If you are Liberal stop defending the Prime Minister of Canada. They did not react with the focus and urgency that a crisis requires, and we need to hold them accountable. So, I may not have too much faith in our current political leaders, but I do have faith in you and our community. And I know we will demand better from now on, and pressure elected officials to put in place the necessary Covid testing in places where there is a high risk of transmission. Otherwise, due to more contagious variants, we could be facing a third wave that is even worse than the second wave. Stay safe.

Rapid Covid testing may prevent a 3rd wave