Officials say Ontario in third wave of pandemic as vaccination efforts expand
Posted March 17, 2021 6:31 am.
Last Updated March 17, 2021 6:42 am.
It was one year ago when Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fast forward 365 days, there is hope on the horizon in the form of vaccines, though health officials are cautioning it is much too early to let our guard down.
As the province attempts to ramp up its vaccination efforts, Ontario’s science advisory table is saying the province has already entered the third wave of COVID-19.
RELATED: Timeline: A year of pandemic life in Toronto
The advisory table says the more transmissible variants of concerns now account for almost half of the new cases in the province.
The group says the growth in variant cases is happening across the province with almost two-thirds of public health units experiencing exponential growth.
But the province’s top doctor said Ontario “could be going into” a third wave but the extent of it is still developing.
“You can always tell you’re in it after it’s over,” Dr. David Williams said. “I would say we are into that base of a third wave. What does that mean, how big it is, that’s to be determined.”
The Premier said he’s always mindful of what the province’s science advisory table has to say, noting that Ontario “can’t let our guard down for one second.”
The latest provincial numbers confirmed 25 additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK and two additional cases of the B.1351 variant first detected in South Africa.
There are now 1,131 cumulative cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 46 cases of the B 1.351 variant and 34 cases of the P.1 variant first detected in Brazil.
The province is reporting 9,131 cases where a mutation has been detected but the exact lineage cannot be determined.
Canada’s top doctor Theresa Tam says while vaccinations will inevitably help, there is still a long way to go. She says every level of government needs to remain vigilant in the fight against the virus.
“Under these circumstances, when these variants are accelerating, it’s a really precarious time for us,” says Tam.
Earlier this week, the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) also declared the province had entered a third wave.
The association took to Twitter on Monday, saying new data from Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table shows variants of concern (VOC) are steeply rising in the province and the number of patients in ICUs is also trending up.
The OHA says strong adherence to public health measures is urgently needed to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed in the third wave.
Ford said roughly 143,000 Ontarians aged 80 and older booked their COVID-19 vaccine appointments as of Monday despite technical issues with the online portal and long wait times to get through to the call centre.
Three mass vaccination clinics in Toronto are set to open their doors on Wednesday.
