By Chris Brown

Update from the PM

PM says feds will fund COVID-19 testing and tracing

May 22, 2020 | 8:59 AM

The federal government says scaling up testing capacity, accelerating contact tracing and sharing data will be key to how the reopening of Canada’s economy progresses.

“I’ve told the provinces the federal government is here to support, facilitate and fund this important work,” said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at his daily address Friday.

He outlined a three-pronged approach for Canadians.

“We’re collaborating to ramp up testing so we can protect Canadians and effectively manage future outbreaks,” said Trudeau, adding the federal government is working with the provinces and territories to procure things like reagents and swabs.

After new cases are identified, he said, contact must be made with everyone who may have been exposed to the virus to make sure they take appropriate quarantine and testing measures.

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He said the government has trained federal employees who can make 3,600 contact tracing calls a day seven days a week, and Statistics Canada has another 1,700 interviewers who can make up to 20,000 calls a day, ready to go

“These federal resources are available to assist provinces and territories with any surges or backlogs or challenges they have in contact tracing,” he said from outside Rideau Cottage.

Trudeau added data collection is shared by provinces and territories in order to track the spread of the virus and save lives.

He said that overall Canadians have been doing a great job of listening to the public health guidelines and that means we can begin reopening some activities.

“But we’re not out of the woods yet. We have to proceed with caution and keep listening to science, or we risk losing the progress we’ve made,” the prime minister said.

Trudeau also announced a new online tool to help people work through the myriad benefits the government has announced during the pandemic.

He also addressed the increase in acts of racism against Asian-Canadians. He said people have been attacked and abused physically and verbally and buildings and statues have been vandalized.

“It’s unacceptable. Hate, violence and discrimination have no place in Canada,” he said.

As of Friday morning, Canada had 81,313 confirmed cases, 11 probable cases and 6,152 deaths. There have been 1,379,731 Canadians tested.

In Alberta, there are 6,768 cases and 132 deaths. A total of 206,778 Albertans have been tested.