A grim milestone for Ontario in the coronavirus pandemic. For the first time, the province has surpassed more than 1,000 cases in a day.
Once again, the largest numbers come from three of the hotspots: Toronto and the regions of Peel and York, which border the city to the north and to the west. Health officials confirm 1,042 new cases on Sunday, coming after 978 new cases on Saturday.
The last surges, about two weeks ago, saw the Ontario government re-impose tougher restrictions and send some areas back to Stage 2 of the recovery phase.
“This is about two weeks after Thanksgiving," said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto General Hospital. "The other thing to consider, too, is that it’s been about two-ish weeks since we’ve had any policy implemented in Ontario and it takes at least two weeks for those changes to actually result in any meaningful plateau of cases."
Bogoch said the week ahead will be an important indicator of where the province is going and whether the latest round of public health measures will have any true effect.
On Monday, the government of Premier Doug Ford will decide whether to add two more regions - Halton and Durham - to the four that have already reverted to a modified Stage 2, which includes further measurers to control the spread of COVID-19.
