The Ontario government announced that it plans to spend $187 billion this year as the province attempts to work through COVID-19. The provincial government plans to spend $45 billion over the next three years to respond to the pandemic.
Ontario is also investing $572 million in hospitals to support additional costs of COVID-19, including testing, assessment centres, laboratory and medical equipment, and personal protective equipment.
“Since day one of the pandemic, protecting people has been our government’s number one priority,” finance minister Rod Phillips said in a statement. “The health risks of COVID-19 remain extremely serious. We are making available every necessary resource to keep people safe, including our loved ones in long-term care and our frontline health care heroes during the second wave and beyond.”
Ontario reported 998 news COVID-19 cases on Thursday, including 350 new cases in Toronto, 269 in Peel and 71 in York Region.
There province also confirmed 13 more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to 3,195.
There are currently 381 in Ontario hospitals with COVID-19, with 86 in ICU and 48 on a ventilator. One school has closed due to COVID-19 concerns, Elder’s Mills Public School in Vaughn.
