The Houston government’s pandemic strategy is corroded in deficiencies but the biggest flaw of all is that the reported case counts don’t reflect the true status of COVID-19 in Nova Scotia.

Under Premier Houston, our province’s pandemic response has veered off course with a strategy of relying on rapid tests without having people report the results.

“Without rapid test results, the Houston government isn’t keeping tabs on the spread of this wave,” says Liberal Leader Iain Rankin. “Good policy decisions are informed from accurate data. But it seems the Premier is willing to derail our Omicron response for the sake of convenience.”

Rapid tests need to be included in the case counts. Until then, the government’s response to COVID-19 will continue to be ineffective.

“If most people are finding out they’re positive with a rapid test without having to report it, then Premier Houston has no real understanding of the scope of this wave to get us out of it,” says Rankin.