The provincial government is vowing to expand testing for the novel coronavirus
On Friday afternoon, it was announced that Ontario will begin implementing the next phase of its strategy to significantly increase and enhance testing measures.
In addition to the ongoing testing of the general public at assessment centres across the province, Ontario will also start proactively testing several priority groups including hospital inpatients, residents of long-term care and retirement homes, health care workers, those frequenting homeless shelters and prisons, crossborder workers as well as vulnerable populations.
With these changes in place, the provincial government is estimating that the number of tests processed each day will double to 8,000 by April 15 and 14,000 by April 29.
"We're laser-focused on ramping up our testing capacity so we can protect the most vulnerable in our communities and those who protect them, like our frontline health care workers and first responders," said Premier Doug Ford. "By expanding our testing capacity, we will be able to find cases faster, intervene earlier, reduce the spread, and save lives."
The new testing strategy follows extensive efforts to expand Ontario's lab testing capacity. To date, the province has conducted over 94,000 tests.
The province has also re-established same-day testing results, which are now accessible to patients through a new online portal.
Additionally, the provincial government has updated the list of COVID-19 related symptoms to now include a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of sense of smell or taste, diarrhea or vomiting. For seniors, there are additional new symptoms to be aware of including chills, delirium with no other obvious reason, falls, acute functional decline, increased heart rate and decreased blood pressure.
These updated symptoms are in addition to difficulty breathing, fever, cough, muscle aches, fatigue, headache, sore throat and a runny nose.
CK's Medical Officer of Health reported on Thursday that there was more testing being done locally.
