Huge crowds seen at DriveTest centre in Toronto with no distancing

DriveTest centres began to reopen in Ontario last month but if the scene at the one at Lawrence and Victoria Park is any indication, more work needs to be done to make sure people are practicing social distancing and wearing masks.

People visiting the DriveTest centre were forced to wait in line for hours in 29 C degree heat, and had the doors shut in their faces at noon, even though the test centre was supposed to be open until 5 p.m.

Toronto resident, Brigitte Stolz, tweeted to highlight her concerns with this particular DriveTest centre location.

@311Toronto @cityoftoronto DriveTest at Lawrence and Victoria Park. No Organization or social distancing #NoSocialDistancing #Run pic.twitter.com/rayNcbLdH4

— Brigitte Stolz (@stolzbrigitte11) July 18, 2020

In another tweet, Stolz explained that the DriveTest centre had no regulations put in place and "people had to line up under the sun for more than four hours."

@TOPublicHealth @311Toronto @cityoftoronto DriveTest Centre Lawrence and Victoria park has no regulations in place!! People had to line up under the sun for more than 4 hrs and then get closer to the door for this pic.twitter.com/BuYK3nMJZi

— Brigitte Stolz (@stolzbrigitte11) July 18, 2020

blogTO spoke to another person who was at the DriveTest centre that day who said that nobody at the centre was helping to enforce any safety procedures and there were no signs on how to maintain physical distancing and no signs of sanitization or PPE.

"It was left to the discretion of the public to arrange themselves in distance," they said.

"People were standing since 8 a.m. in the queue, which was hardly moving. After standing for almost 3.5 hours in the sun, we were informed that there was no booking anymore for the day."

The individual told blogTO that a man came out just after noon to announce that no more tests would take place, even though the centre is supposed to stay open way later.

"The crowd went crazy because they’ve been standing in the queue for hours and no one said a word before then that the maximum quota was filled for the day," they said.

According to this individual, the crowd then rushed the office to complain but were pushed back verbally by the employees who were "standing close to each other and not physically distancing."

"They didn't care that people were so close in the crowd," the person told blogTO. “Some people didn't have a mask - they didn’t care to provide them with one or inform them to step aside.”

Stolz said she has submitted several complaints about this matter but has yet to hear back.