Quebec's public health strategic adviser, Dr. "So there will be rigorous prevention measures set up." "This has to be done while ensuring everyone's protection - the protection of workers and clients as well," Health Minister Danielle McCann said Wednesday. Horacio Arruda said he's still not satisfied with the number of people getting tested in the province, falling well below the capacity to test 20,000 per day.Īnd the province's latest public health data provides no clear information on why infection continues to occur even after months of lockdown.Īnalysis François Legault's approval ratings fall back to earth as Quebec tries to reopen In Quebec, the number of new cases remains the highest in the country, with 720 new cases and 82 deaths reported Thursday. "We need to redouble our efforts to continually improve our understanding of where ongoing transmission is occurring so that we can reopen safely." Quebec forges ahead with reopening "I would be nervous about some elements of the reopening strategy in some areas of the province," he said. Irfan Dhalla, a physician and University of Toronto medical professor who is also a vice-president at Unity Health Toronto, said Ontario needs to proceed with caution. "Because you're not testing everybody, you are going to get cases where you don't know where they came from."ĭr. "We're only ever measuring the tip of the iceberg, and so there's a bunch of cases out there that we don't know about, and presumably those cases are transmitting," Gardam said. "We should not be seeing these sorts of numbers at this stage," he said, adding the local increase, as well as the provincial one, is higher than it should be. Chris Mackie, the Medical Officer of Health and CEO for the Middlesex London Health Unit in London, Ont., who said the region may need to "reconsider" reopening after case counts rose this week. He notes the recent new case levels in the province - between 300 and 500 each day - mirror the levels in the early days of lockdown. "We have seen our new cases starting to plateau, but we have just not seen a decline in line with the province's own framework for reopening at this point," he said, adding the region had 20 per cent of all new COVID-19 cases in Ontario last week. Lawrence Loh, the Medical Officer of Health for Peel Region, west of Toronto, said this week the province's move to reopen was "out of step" with the "continuing risk" of the coronavirus pandemic, and recommended delaying easing restrictions. 1, and 100 over the past week.Even local health officials have concerns about lifting lockdown measures.ĭr. The data also show that deaths due to COVID-19 will continue to increase, especially in long-term care where there have been 633 resident deaths since Sept. Under a worst-case scenario, ICU occupancy could hit 1,500 beds by mid-January. The new projections show that under all scenarios the province will see 300 intensive care beds filled within 10 days - double the 150-bed threshold where surgeries must be cancelled. If the province sees “substantial growth” of seven per cent, Ontario will have 30,000 daily cases. Ontario reported 2,123 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday and 17 more deaths related to the virus.īrown said that if Ontario’s COVID-19 case rate continues to grow between one and three per cent, the province will have 3,000 to 5,000 daily cases by the end of January. The data by the province’s health advisers concluded that tough lockdowns lasting a month or more could cut the number of daily cases to less than 1,000. The announcement of the sweeping lockdown came hours after new projections indicated Ontario’s ability to control the spread of COVID-19 was “precarious.” The lockdown also means Ontarians are advised to stay home “to the fullest extent possible.” No indoor public events or social gatherings will be allowed, except with members of the same household. The measures also mean all non-essential businesses must close, and essential businesses that remain open will have strict capacity limits in place. 4 to 8, after which students will return to in-person learning depending on their location and grade level.Ĭhild-care centres across the province will remain open during the lockdown. The lockdown means schools across the province will move to online learning from Jan. “The duration of lockdown is very important.” “Hard lockdown, a very stringent lockdown, with very strong communication, of four to six weeks can reduce case numbers in Ontario,” he said. Adalsteinn Brown, co-chair of the province’s COVID-19 science advisory table, said anything less than a four-week lockdown will not work, based on the experience of other jurisdictions. “Make no mistake, thousands of lives are at stake right now.”ĭr. “This difficult action is without a doubt necessary to save lives and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed in the coming weeks,” he said.
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