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In this age of the pandemic, it’s a hot commodity.

Canadians have lined up, driven up and in some cases waited for hours in recent days to try to get a test for the virus that causes COVID-19.

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“Most of them are sick. The symptoms are a fever and a cough,” said Dr. Danielle Martin of the assessment centre at her Women’s College Hospital in downtown Toronto. “Many of them look like people who have a bad cold.”

A good proportion across the country have also left frustrated that they didn’t qualify to be swabbed, while doctors report that there are definite gaps in the system.

But the data suggest testing is actually a relatively good-news story amid the anxiety over COVID-19. Canada is screening for the novel coronavirus more widely than many countries in the world, and at a far greater rate per capita than in United States.

The latest figures available Monday indicated 34,000 had been swabbed for traces of the pathogen across the country, compared to 23,000 tests in the U.S., which has 10 times the population and number of COVID-19 cases.