Ontario releases COVID-19 data suggesting province could hover around 800-1,200 cases per day
Posted October 29, 2020 3:28 pm.
Last Updated October 30, 2020 7:08 am.
Ontario’s government released new data on Thursday indicating that while COVID-19 cases are growing in the province, the peak of the second wave may not be as overwhelming as initially thought.
Among the numbers provided, health officials predict Ontario will see around 800 to 1,200 new COVID-19 cases a day through Nov. and compared these projections to that of Michigan, citing a similar trajectory.
The province also says COVID-19 cases are not expected to exceed the 150-ICU bed threshold for occupancy in intensive care units in the next month.
Data also shows that since Aug. 1, the biggest source of infection and transmission in Toronto has been schools and daycares.
The data suggests that 22 percent of new COVID-19 cases since Aug. 1 are, in fact, out of Toronto schools and daycares followed by LTC homes (18 percent) with restaurants, bars and clubs accounting for 14 percent of infections.
Ontario schools have reported 923 new COVID-19 cases in the past two weeks. Totals also recently surpassed 2,000 cumulative COVID-19 cases to date.
In late Sept., Mason Road Junior Public School in Toronto was ordered to be closed following a COVID-19 outbreak.
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The data also showed that there has been a 56 per cent increase in confirmed COVID-19 bed occupancy in the province over the last three weeks.
On Tuesday, the Ford government announced an investment of $116.5 million and 760 beds to increase hospital capacity, reduce wait times, and respond to COVID-19 across 32 hospitals in the province.
Some Ontario hospitals, specifically those found in COVID-19 hotspots, have reported 100 per cent capacity in recent weeks, with some Toronto and Peel health officials suggesting it will only get worse.
On Thursday, Health Minister Christine Elliott said that 63 percent of new COVID-19 cases in the province are centred in COVID-19 hotspots such as Toronto and Peel.
Elliott says the government is working with local medical officers of health to best determine what this means now and moving forward.
