Ontario’s premier is expected to announce today what new restrictions the province’s COVID-19 hotspots will face amid soaring case numbers.
Posted Nov 20, 2020, 06:17AM EST
Ontario’s premier is expected to announce today what new restrictions the province’s COVID-19 hotspots will face amid soaring case numbers.
Doug Ford had said on Wednesday that an announcement regarding new health and safety measures is on the horizon.
“We’re continuing to see extremely, extremely troubling numbers in Peel, Toronto and York Region,” Ford said on Wednesday.
“The virus is spreading at an alarming rate in these areas and I can’t stress this enough; this situation is extremely, extremely serious. Last week, I asked the chief medical officer of health to come back with his recommendations and what we need to do to flatten the curve in a second wave.”
Ford said the new measures, which could be aimed specifically at Toronto and Peel, will be discussed at cabinet and announced in the coming days.
Peel Public Health data – Nov. 18
Of the several regions currently in the province’s ‘Red Zone‘, the regional breakdown had Peel back out in front of Toronto with 463 cases compared to 410 in those two areas alone, accounting for 62 per cent of the province’s new infections.
“We’re going to get advice off the chief medical officer and bring it to cabinet and will have an announcement on Friday,” Ford said.
“I have mentioned it before, I won’t hesitate to lock things down, to protect the health and safety of every person in this province. Without the health and safety, we don’t have an economy. We will take a more targeted approach in the hotspots.”
Ontario said 33,4400 tests were completed on Wednesday, up from Tuesday but down from last week’s averages. Test positivity is at 4.5 per cent province-wide and down from yesterday’s increase to 6.1 per cent.
Last week, the Ford government announced sweeping modifications to its COVID-19 colour-coded framework and thresholds, adding several regions — including York, Halton and Hamilton — to its ‘Red Zone.’
Ontario epidemiology report – Nov. 1 – Nov. 7
Toronto Public Health updated its case records from Nov. 14, when there were 40 unreported cases resulting in an overestimation of counts. The City is seeing a decline in cases compared to Tuesday with 410, down from 569 cases.
“My friends, we need to hunker down. We need to stick together because together, we’ll get through this.”
