Following calls from Premier Doug Ford to ramp up testing efforts across the province, Health Sciences North said Thursday it plans to tests hundreds of more people for COVID-19 in the coming weeks.

“As part of increased testing efforts, HSN will be introducing an additional drive-thru testing option at COVID-19 Assessment Centre at 56 Walford Road, beginning on Friday,” the hospital said in a release. “The site is designed to protect health workers and patients alike from being exposed to the virus.”

However, it’s important to note the COVID-19 Assessment Centre (including the drive-through screening) is by appointment only.

For safety reasons, walk-in appointments are strictly prohibited.

The hospital said if people have have any of the following symptoms, they should call the Assessment Center at 705-671-7373:

Fever or chills.

Sore throat.

New onset or worsening fatigue.

Loss of taste or smell.

New onset or worsening cough.

Headache.

Loss of appetite.

Runny nose.

Muscle aches.

Nausea or diarrhea.

Shortness of breath.

”If you are having difficulty breathing or experiencing other severe symptoms, call 911 immediately. Advise them of your symptoms and travel history,” the hospital advised.

Ford on Wednesday called for every long-term care resident, front-line health-care worker and first responder to be tested, expressing frustration over the number of daily COVID-19 tests performed in Ontario falling well short of its lab processing capacity.

Ford said Thursday that he remains committed to achieving that.

“Our goal at the end of the day is test every single front-line health-care worker, all workers, being nurses, doctors, (personal support workers), cleaners,” he said.

“Anyone that’s involved in health-care, there has to be a priority. Our priority is to make sure we target the long-term care residents and the workers there as well.”

The province has been conducting fewer than 4,000 tests per day recently, although it is able to do 13,000.

Ontario at first didn’t have enough assessment centres, then there were not enough labs to process the tests, then the supplies of reagent — key chemicals needed for testing — were low. But now that those issues have been resolved, there is no reason for the shortfall, Ford said.

“Now my patience has run thin and no more excuses,” Ford said. “It’s unacceptable…. We say we can do 13,000 a day, then we need to start doing 13,000 every single day.”

— with files from Canadian Press