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WATCH: Provincial government to invest $741M to clear surgery backlog

The provincial government has been releasing details of the plan all week as cases continue to rise across Ontario

Update:

The provincial government says it will spend $741 million to help clear the backlog of surgeries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Doug Ford made the announcement today as part of his government's COVID-19 fall preparedness plan.

"Expanding access to care to help reduce health service backlogs is part of our plan to ensure that we are ready for future waves of COVID-19," said Health Minister Christine Elliott."

This investment is essential to help more patients waiting for surgeries and other procedures get the care they need faster and help reduce the burden on our system.To ensure that the health system is prepared to respond to any surges of COVID-19 without interrupting routine health services, we are also increasing capacity inhome and community care and expanding digital and virtual health care services."

Original story:

Premier Doug Ford is slated to make a COVID-19 announcement at 1 p.m. at Queen's Park today.

It is expected that the premier will announce the fourth part of his provincial fall COVID-19 preparedness plan today.

Today's announcement comes after the provincial government announced a massive flu vaccine campaign, $1B to ramp up COVID-19 testing and contact tracing management, and that up to 60 pharmacies will start to offer testing today.

Ford will be joined by Christine Elliott, Deputy Premier and Minister of Health, to make the announcement.

Village Media will carry the livestream, so stay tuned.