Week 33 of pandemic life could see more changes in Ontario

It’s week 33 of pandemic life and it is shaping up to be a big one.

Ontario is coming off a record-high day for new COVID-19 cases, and the premier appears set to extend restrictions to other jurisdictions.

Before Thanksgiving, the messaging was clear — stay home.

Two weeks later, we are now seeing the fallout of those choices from people in the province, according to the experts.

A big spike in daily cases — with more than 1,000 reported for the first time since the pandemic started.

Officials said Ontario saw a similar jump in cases after Mother’s Day and Labour Day.

On Friday, Ford said that the experts would look at the caseload in Halton and Durham regions over the weekend to determine whether they need to roll back to a modified Stage 2 of the province’s pandemic recovery plan.

But politicians in Halton are urging the province not to lump them in with neighbouring hotspot areas, saying they aren’t seeing as many COVID-19 cases as those areas.

RELATED: Halton Region MPPs, mayors push back on modified Stage 2 plans

Toronto, Peel, York, and Ottawa have been set back to a modified Stage 2 earlier this month.

Ford is was expected to announce Monday whether Halton and Durham will be joining the four regions with restrictions, but 680 NEWS has learned there will not be an announcement made that day.

Infectious Disease Expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch told the CBC that we could see in about two weeks if those modified Stage 2 measures have paid off.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott said that the province is ready to take swift action as needed to limit the spread of COVID-19.