Ottawa's drive-thru coronavirus testing centre is moving to the National Arts Centre and a new site is opening within walking distance for most downtown residents.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said residents should limit their close contacts to help flatten the city's second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.

"There's no one that's been jumping up and down screaming for the rapid tests more than I have."

Medical experts say an abrupt shift in Ontario's testing strategy highlights the complexities of responding to a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The change in the province's testing strategy comes after the government has said for months that anyone who wants a COVID-19 test can go to an assessment centre for one.

"There [were] a lot of people in line who were older, elderly folk ... I would say half the line was people with small children," Toronto resident Chelsea Kennedy said.

'That should be their number one priority,' Doug Ford said at a rare weekend press conference.

Ontario is expected in the coming days to unveil a plan to grant community pharmacies the ability to test for COVID-19 as it grapples with hours-long waits at some of the province's 148 assessment centres.

Dr. Robert Cushman, acting medical officer of health with Renfrew County and District Health Unit, says universal testing for COVID-19 has led to major problems such as expired samples and test results that take upwards of seven days to get back.

Ford said the only way to reach testing capacity in the province is for people to get tested, and said asymptomatic people will not be turned away at assessment centres during a televised address on Sunday.