Ontario will increase COVID-19 testing to reach target groups and those showing symptoms of the illness, Premier Doug Ford says.

The plan is to go to 8,000 daily tests by Wednesday and 14,000 daily tests by the end of the month, along with securing more personal protection equipment (PPE) and maintaing social distancing.

“We’ve clearly seen that the jurisdictions that get these three things right are the ones that are staying ahead in this terrible fight,” Ford said Friday. “We’re going to find cases faster, intervene earlier and stop this virus in its tracks.”

Health Minister Christine Elliott said the decision to test someone for COVID-19 remain at the discretion of physicians.

Members of the general public who do not have any COVID-19 symptoms are not the focus, she said.

“There is a group of people that are called the ‘worried well,’ they’re worried about having COVID-19 … but we need to concentrate our resources on the people that are showing the symptoms, that are a danger to their own health and potentially a danger to their family members or other people if they are essential workers,” she said.

Testing will be targeted at specific groups including residents and staff of long-term care homes, hospitals and homeless shelters.

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Frontline health care workers, child care staff, paramedics, firefighters and police officers are also on the priority testing list, Elliott said.

The list of COVID-19 symptoms has been expanded beyond coughing and fever to include a hoarse voice, difficulty swallowing, loss of senses and nausea.

Residents of nursing homes will be monitored for additional symptoms such as decreased blood pressure, chills, sudden delirium, falls and an increased heart rate, she said.

The Ontario government has come under criticism for having lower testing rates than other provinces.

Provincial public health officials say they will increase testing but argue that there is little value in testing people without symptoms.

A negative test is just a snapshot in time — the person could become contagious shortly after — and of little use in tracking the spread of COVID-19.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau identified Alberta and Quebec as two provinces that are doing a good job on COVID-19 testing, and said that Ontario is coming along in the next few days.

aartuso@postmedia.com