Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore claims that he “absolutely” expects a rise in COVID-19 cases in September and that Ontario will be preparing for the potential surge (Davidson, 2021).
Fall is right around the corner—and so is flu season. As most people tend to spend a great amount of time indoors due to colder temperatures, many respiratory viruses will also begin to spread around mid to late September (Davidson, 2021). It is crucial for Ontario to amp up its immunization rates by September so that Ontarians can safely take part in indoor activities (Davidson, 2021).
According to the Ontario Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary, COVID-19 infections have recently jumped well over the 100 count (Tsekouras, 2021). The majority of these new cases were found in Toronto and Hamilton (Tsekouras, 2021). Other affected areas include Waterloo, Peel Region, York Region, Durham Region, Halton Region, and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (Tsekouras, 2021). As of July 28, 2021, there were 218 new cases reported in Ontario (Fox, 2021).
Update on COVID-19 Variants
As of last week, 234 cases of COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) were reported in Ontario (Tsekouras, 2021). At least 99 of those 234 cases were of the Alpha variant, about 69 of them were of the Gamma variant, 61 cases of the Delta variant, and 5 of them were of the Beta variant (Tsekouras, 2021).
Looking Ahead
Dr. Moore seems confident that Ontario will be able to reach its desired targets and move forward from stage 3 before August 6th, 2021. In order to surpass stage 3 however, at least 80% of those eligible for vaccines need to have received their first dose, and 75% should have their second (Davidson, 2021). Moreover, the province will be remaining in this stage for a minimum of 21 days before most public health restrictions are lifted (Tsekouras, 2021). As such, Ontarians will need to keep up with their COVID-19 vaccines to be well-prepared for the fall.
“It’s a challenge to all Ontarians. If we want to get through to the next phase of reopening, which is a complete reopening with no public health measures, we’ve got work cut out for us.” – Dr. Kieran Moore
For those looking to get vaccinated against COVID-19, visit iamsick.ca to book your appointment.
References
Davidson, S. (2021, July 13). Ontario’s top doctor ‘absolutely’ expects rise IN COVID-19 cases in September. Toronto. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-s-top-doctor-absolutely-expects-rise-in-covid-19-cases-in-september-1.5507695.
Fox, C. (2021, July 29). Ontario reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in more than three weeks. CP24. https://www.cp24.com/news/ontario-reports-highest-number-of-new-covid-19-cases-in-more-than-three-weeks-1.5527730.
Tsekouras, P. (2021, July 22). Ontario reports jump in new COVID-19 infections but case numbers remain below 200. Toronto. https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-reports-jump-in-new-covid-19-infections-but-case-numbers-remain-below-200-1.5519069.
About the Author
Bairavie Piravakaran (she/her) is a second-year undergraduate at the University of Toronto Scarborough. As a Psychological & Health Sciences student, she values the importance of sharing credible information and making health resources more accessible to the public. Her interests in population health, research, and design are also reflected in her non-academic pursuits—she currently with the Young Leaders of Public Health and Medicine (YLPHM) as a Social Media Manager for the Scarborough Chapter and is a Health Promotion & Analytics Member at Critical Health Innovations Lab (CHIL). At EMPOWER Health, Bairavie works closely with the Marketing Team in order to plan and execute strategies that help inform the public about current health-related topics.
iamsick.ca blog 