Toronto will resume its full contact tracing program and scale up other COVID-19 infrastructure measures as the city readies itself to ease restrictions on Nov. 14.
Dr. Eileen De Villa, Toronto's chief medical officer of health, said on Wednesday that the city's public health unit had increased its pre-pandemic case management and contact tracing team of 50 up to nearly 700 people, the largest in Canada.
She noted that 200 more people would be added to the group and that three local hospitals would contribute to the effort.
``Our objective is not simply to do it well, but to be amongst the best in the world,'' De Villa said, adding that contact tracers would focus on identifying super-spreader events.
Toronto is one of four hot spots in Ontario -- along with Ottawa, Peel Region and York Region -- currently under tighter restrictions that closed gyms, cinemas and indoor restaurant dining.
Those restrictions will lift in Peel Region and Ottawa on Saturday, but Mayor John Tory asked the province to keep Toronto's restrictions in place for an additional week as the city works to curb cases.
Tory said on Wednesday he's believes that the extra week will be enough time to implement new safety measures, communicate the new guidelines to local businesses, and get Toronto's daily caseload lower.