Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, explained that there are two models for the future of the province’s second wave, one that would lead to thousands of new cases a day.
The “most concerning” model is the “penultimate or the tsunami-type wave” where there is rapid exponential growth in cases that impacts the whole province.
BREAKING: 700 new cases of #COVID19 reported in Ontario today, a single-day record. (Modelling has forecast the province to hit 1,000 cases/day by mid-October.) #covidontario https://t.co/DWp7bjFQ7I pic.twitter.com/no7m3jJi9h
— Mike Crawley (@CBCQueensPark) September 28, 2020
“We would be up and having anywhere from three to four to five thousand new cases a day,” Dr. Williams said at a press conference on Monday.
The second model is identified by “undulating waves” and would continue into 2021, but modellers have not identified how big each of these shorter waves would be.
“This is a wakeup call for us, we have to pay attention to this in a serious way,” the Ontario’s chief medical officer of health said.
Dr. Williams added that considerations are still being brought forward to the public health measures table related to moving all of Ontario, or certain areas of the province, back to Stage 2 of Ontario’s reopening plan. He added that the core difference between the COVID-19 situation now and when restrictions were initially put in is that virus was all over the province, instead of mainly being identified in more urban areas of Ontario. Dr. Williams confirmed that some of the recommendations being put forward are “pan-Ontario” measures and restrictions.
The province’s chief medical officer of health asked the public to be cautious about who they interact with, particularly individuals who are not taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.
“We’re getting some people out there who are basically saying, we don’t really care about the rules and we’re going to be cavalier about it,” Dr. Williams explained. “I would avoid contact with those people…because you have no idea, and they have no idea, if they’ve been exposed or not at this stage.”
“It’s like running a marathon race…we think we’re well in the lead and we’re just sort of slacking off. You have to pick up the pace again and sometimes that’s harder to do.”
