Police Chief Mark Saunders says that he decided to get tested for COVID-19 as a precaution due to the nature of his job.
The province has significantly widened its criteria for people to receive a test and is now telling anyone with at least one symptom or a job that places them at risk that they can receive one.
In a message posted to Twitter on Tuesday, Saunders confirmed that he decided to get tested himself despite not having any symptoms.
Saunders also shared a photo of him getting the test at what appeared to be a drive-thru testing facility.
“As first responders it can be difficult to maintain physical distancing doing our jobs,” he said in explaining his decision. “We do our best to protect the public and getting tested is important.”
The province has the capacity to turn around 20,000 individual tests each day but has regularly fallen far short of that number.
Over the weekend, Premier Doug Ford said that “a detailed testing strategy” will be announced this week. However, he said that in the interim everyone who feels they need it should be getting a test.
“I'm asking the people of Ontario, if you are worried if you have COVID-19, or that you've been exposed to someone who has COVID-19, even if you are not showing symptoms, please go get a test” he said at the time, adding that nobody will be “turned away.”
