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May 21, 2020 5:44 PM -

Trudeau pledges help to increase COVID-19 testing in Ontario and Quebec

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference at Rideau Cottage amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Thursday, May 21, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will be speaking with the premiers today about how Ottawa can help provinces massively scale up their COVID-19 testing capacity to fend off a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus.

He says testing needs to increase immediately in Ontario and Quebec, where the economies are starting to reopen but the number of new COVID-19 cases remains high.

Trudeau first offered provinces a national framework on testing and contact tracing last week.

He says he's received positive responses from across Canada so far and is set to further discuss the offer during his weekly call with provincial and territorial premiers today.

Even in areas with a low number of new cases, Trudeau says governments need to be able to instantly increase their testing capacity to detect and control new flare-ups.

He says he doesn't want logistics or finances to get in the way of doing the testing or contact tracing needed to keep the pandemic under control.

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