COVID-19 Update for October 14 2020 – 1:40pm

Premier Doug Ford held his usual media conference today, with a focus on COVID-19 case management.

Case and Contact Management Strategy

The Premier announced that the province is hiring up to 600 additional contact tracers and case managers as part of its Fall Preparedness Plan.

There have been 100 new contact tracers already hired, and 500 will be available by mid-November. To help with hiring, the government is partnering with Ian Martin, a recruitment firm.

With these additions, there will be close to 4,000 people contact tracing and managing cases in Ontario.

In addition, Ontario has implemented a centralized Public Health Case and Contact Management (CCM) System in public health units across the province. This system significantly reduces duplication, speeds up processes and allows for more efficient case and contact management work to be completed.

Testing

The Premier also mentioned that there are currently more than 100 pharmacies offering asymptomatic testing, and 50 more will be joining this week.