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Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Barbara Yaffe said public health officials need to consider “all possible measures” to contain the spread.
Ontario reported 4,249 new cases Friday, another daily record even though 450 of those cases should have been recorded for Jan. 5 and Jan. 6 in Toronto.
The province will run out of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of next week unless new supply arrives, Ford said, adding he was on a call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Thursday night to discuss the looming shortage.
At the pace of vaccination, Ontarians will have to remain vigilant until April and possibly June.
“It’s going to be one heck of a bumpy road,” Ford said. “I’m being very frank with the people.”
Anthony Dale, president and CEO of the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA), reported Friday that the province’s ICUs have 383 COVID-19 patients — now well over the threshold for rolling back elective surgeries and procedures — and that about 40% of ICU beds in the central region are occupied by COVID patients.
“We have more and more people hospitalized, more and more people in ICU, more and more people on ventilators,” Yaffe said, noting rising COVID-19 outbreaks in long-term care homes and increasing rates in children. “There is more and more spread of this infection in the community.”
There are likely more cases of the highly-contagious United Kingdom variant in Ontario than the current six which have been identified, she said.
An additional 26 deaths were reported Friday.
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