Coronavirus: Ontario government criticized for "slower, reactive" response to COVID-19 | FULL

Ontario's Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk provided a briefing Wednesday on her office's report into the province's pandemic response, saying it found the province had been "slower and more reactive" relative to other provinces during the winter and spring. She said longstanding, systemic issues including outdated and untested emergency and pandemic response plans, limited lab surge capacity, and a health command structure not fully led by the province's top doctor and other health experts.

Her report also highlighted that the province's initial health command table had ballooned to be comprised of about 500 people. She said the pandemic response was "hampered" by a "cumbersome command and advisory structure." She said the health command table established to provide advice grew "larger and more complex" and while it should have been "dominated by public health experts." She also said other provinces have made better decision faster in areas such as testing and long-term care, compared to Ontario.

In analyzing the response, Lysyk said her office's audit of outbreak planning and other aspects of the response found there were delays on ramping up testing capacity despite warnings in February, as well as a delay in alerting Ontarians to avoid non-essential travel and alerting long-term care homes to take precautionary actions.

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