The plan commits at least $2.2 billion to the pandemic response. The biggest single item is nearly $1.4 billion on a range of public health measures, including increased capacity in testing, labs, contact tracing, and efforts to prevent transmission of the novel coronavirus.
Other dollar figures in the plan include:
$475 million to prepare the health system for a surge in COVID-19 cases.
$284 million to reduce backlogs in surgeries and other hospital procedures.
$30 million to identify, manage and prevent outbreaks in schools, long-term care and other settings.
$28.5 million for the flu immunization campaign announced on Tuesday.
An additional $90 million is labelled "TBC" (to be confirmed) for a wage enhancement for personal support workers in home and community care.
So far, the government has released two elements of the plan: the upcoming flu vaccination campaign and the expansion of COVID-19 testing to some pharmacies. Ford is expected to reveal more on Thursday, but the full plan was not to be rolled out for several more days.
