York South—Weston MPP says Ford govt should pay for and staff school testing

York South—Weston — The NDP MPP for York South—Weston Faisal Hassan released this statement urging the province to pay for and staff school rapid testing:

"My community has been identified since the early days of COVID-19 as high-risk, a hot spot. Despite the high case counts, we had to wait until the end of September to get our first testing facility.

Last week, two schools in our community were forced to close due to a high number of COVID-19 cases. Only now, three months after the school year started and less than three weeks before Christmas break, have three York South—Weston schools been offered rapid testing, and the latter has been left to struggling school boards to organize.

Any kind of help is welcome, but the Ford government response to our community has been far too slow, and the support is simply not enough.

Ford must commit to paying for and staffing the testing programs, providing a safe place to isolate for any families that test positive, and providing paid sick days for everyone."