Ontario reports a record 700 new cases of COVID-19, a significant increase that has now prompted the Ontario Hospital Association to call for the return of Stage 2 restrictions
This is the highest daily count ever in Ontario, exceeding 640 confirmed cases on April 24
It should be noted, however, that the province was testing far fewer people this spring, so it is possible that the numbers at the time were an under-representation of the prevalence of the virus in the community at the time.
For example, the previous record of 640 cases was based on the completion of over 12,000 individual tests, which translates to a positive percentage of 5% The 700 cases confirmed on Monday have undergone more than 41,000 tests This translates to a positive percentage of around 17 percent
The positive percentage in Ontario was previously as low as 028% in August, but has now been on the rise for weeks, even amid a major expansion test that has seen the province process at least 40,000 tests in each of the last four days
« We know we are in the second wave and we know it will be worse than the first wave, but what we do not know yet is how bad the second wave will be, » admitted Premier Doug. Ford during a briefing at Queen’s Park Monday afternoon « The reality is that it’s up to each of us. Together, our collective actions will decide whether we face a wave or a tsunami »
Ontario has spent an entire week with its daily counts of new infections under 100 as recently as early August, but since then the numbers have been rising steadily and we are now back where we were at the top of the first. wave in april
The 700 new cases confirmed on Monday represent a substantial increase from the 491 cases confirmed the day before, which in itself was a high of nearly five months
That number peaked at 570 in April and dropped to 85 last month
Of the new cases confirmed on Monday, about three-quarters of them were in the Greater Toronto Area (526 cases), continuing a recent trend in which the virus appears to be increasingly clustered in urban areas
Toronto alone had 344 cases while Peel Region had 104, York Region had 56, Durham Region had seven and Halton Region had 15
Ottawa also continues to be a hotspot for infection, adding 89 more cases in the past 24 hours
Speaking to reporters at Monday’s briefing, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr David Williams said the province was clearly on « the slow upward curve » of a second wave of infections. / p>
He said that at present, modeling suggests it is more of a « rippling wave » in which infections are gradually increasing as they did in the spring, but he acknowledged that there is always a risk of wave of « tsunami type », in which there is a sudden peak in the cases
« We have to assume it could be a lot worse than the first wave, especially if it’s the second scenario where it’s more of a tsunami So far it doesn’t seem to be going that way and we would like to think. that we can stay current and ask the audience to really lean in and stay on task and see if we can flatten the curve like we did the first time around, ”he says“ People have become very laid back , I’m thinking of late summer and early fall and we’ve seen that effect, but I think if everyone refocuses we can turn the tide »
While hospitalizations have so far remained well below peaks seen in April, when 1,043 people received treatment, the latest data suggests they are also on the rise
There are now 128 COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals, about triple the number seen at points last month
Of these patients, 29 are in intensive care units and 17 of them breathe using a ventilator
There also appears to be an increase in outbreaks in long-term care homes, where so many COVID-19 deaths were concentrated at the start of the pandemic.
The province reported four more outbreaks in long-term care homes on Monday, bringing the total number of active outbreaks in those settings to 36
There are also now two homes in Toronto with more than five resident cases, a threshold that had not been reached by any of the city’s long-term care facilities for months.
« If we compare this to the first wave of the pandemic, it’s actually a steeper rise in the curve which is very, very disturbing, » infectious disease specialist Dr Abdu Sharkawy told CP24 earlier Monday morning. “I think people need to recognize this just because we don’t have a huge number of hospitalizations and intensive care admissions right now that can change and that can change without notice and as we wait for the season to go. flu from day to day, it could really mean problems for our health system «
The Ford government has taken several steps to deal with the recent increase in cases, including the recent decision to ban the sale of alcohol after 11 pm and reduce the maximum size of social gatherings allowed to 10 people inside and 25 outside
In a statement released following the release of figures on Monday, the Ontario Hospital Association called on the Premier to go further and immediately reinstate Stage 2 restrictions in the Greater Toronto Area and in Ottawa
Under Stage 2, bars and restaurants were restricted to take out and terrace food service only and many other businesses, including gymnasiums and cinemas, were prohibited from fully operating
“Ontario hospitals have been the anchor of the response to the Ontario pandemic, opening assessment centers, performing lab tests and deploying staff to help with long-term care, but they are gravely concerned that the current rate of spread will mean that hospitals will not be able to meet these conditions roles while providing vital care, ”warned Anthony Dale, president and CEO of the OHA, in the release « Without public health measures in place to limit the possibilities of disease transmission, Ontario will soon experience more hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and more deaths »
Dale acknowledged in his statement that a return to Stage 2 would come « at a serious cost to thousands of businesses and their employees, » but said that « new evidence clearly shows that indoor environments like bars and restaurants have become major drivers of the rise in COVID- 19 cases «
He said while a decision to limit hours at these facilities « may have little impact on transmission, » the province simply cannot afford « to wait and find out. »
For his part, Ford said that « everything is on the table » but has not made a commitment to return to stage 2
Williams also spoke of the need to be more « surgical » in issuing new public health restrictions, noting that the province is unlikely to follow the same staging system it used to restart the economy. the province in spring and summer
« We are looking at different parameters and in different ways or looking at them because they are currently themselves differently and they present themselves differently in different parts of the province, » he said.
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World news – CA – « We know we are in the second wave and we know it will be worse than the first wave », Ford says in Ontario reports 700 new cases
