–
–
Shawn Jeffords
The Canadian Press
According to Dr David Williams, although the daily number of cases remains high – 2,578 as of Monday – the impact of the restrictions adopted on December 26 is starting to be felt.
Dr Williams said the seven-day average of cases in Ontario has dropped to just over 3,000 cases, compared to some 3,500 reported in recent weeks.
He said he would like to see the daily number of new cases rise to levels last seen at the end of October before the measures are relaxed.
Dr Williams assured that it was “achievable”.
He would also like the number of hospitalized intensive care patients linked to COVID-19 to decrease to 150, from 395 on Monday.
“If you fall below 150 COVID patients in intensive care beds, it starts to bring you back to where all hospitals can start doing their other elective procedures,” he explained.
A new hospital
Less than a week ago, the province was plunged into its second pandemic state of emergency and Premier Doug Ford imposed a stay-at-home order.
Premier Ford also announced Monday that a new hospital would open in Vaughan to alleviate a capacity shortage due to the rise in COVID-19 cases.
Some patients in the greater Toronto area will be transferred to Cortellucci Hospital in Vaughan, which will open on February 7.
The hospital will add 35 intensive care beds and 150 hospital beds.
Health Minister Christine Elliott said patients were already being transferred to Kingston and the Niagara region.
Outbreak in a nursing home
A spokeswoman for Ontario’s Minister of Long-Term Care announced Monday that the Canadian Red Cross has been deployed to a care home in Barrie, which is struggling with a major COVID-19 outbreak.
Krystle Caputo clarified that 57 residents, 43 staff and two essential visitors have been diagnosed positive with COVID-19 at Roberta Place. Nine residents died from the virus at the retirement home.
Several nearby hospitals and the local public health unit are also helping manage the residence during the outbreak.
“We remain committed to doing all we can, with our partners, to help stabilize the residence and return it to normal functioning,” said Mme Caputo in a statement.
Vaccination clinic
A clinic dedicated to administering COVID-19 vaccines opened at the Toronto Convention Center on Monday.
City officials say the clinic will help the Ontario Ministry of Health test and adjust the setup of immunization clinics in non-hospital settings.
The Metro Toronto Convention Center clinic, which is in the heart of downtown, hopes to vaccinate 250 people a day, but the city notes that this will depend entirely on vaccine supply.
Pfizer-BioNTech, which manufactures one of two vaccines approved by Health Canada, announced last week that it was temporarily delaying international shipments of the vaccines while it modernized its production facilities in Europe.
The Ontario government has said this will impact the province’s vaccine distribution plan, and some people will have their booster shots delayed by weeks.
The City of Hamilton, meanwhile, says the province has ordered it to temporarily stop giving the first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines to everyone except residents, staff and caregivers in nursing homes. long-term and retirement institutions.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Christine Elliott did not say how many parts of the province received the directive.
–
