Toronto Public Health reports 64 new deaths, 100 new hospitalizations due to COVID-19
Toronto Public Health is reporting 64 new deaths and 100 new hospitalizations due to COVID-19.
The public health unit, in an update on Monday that combined data from the past four days, said Toronto saw 2,226 new COVID-19 cases from Dec. 24 to 27.
The new cases mean the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in Toronto, or total number of cases since the pandemic began, now stands at 58,115.
On its "COVID-19: Status of Cases in Toronto" web page, Toronto Public Health (TPH) said the new deaths reported on Monday bring the city's cumulative death toll due to COVID-19-related reasons to 1,908.
And the newly reported cases in hospital mean the total number of current hospitalizations due to the novel coronavirus is now 306.
Of that number, 86 people are in intensive care units and 54 are breathing with the help of ventilators.
The number of hospitalizations is a slight drop from the 321 reported on Dec. 23 by Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city's medical officer of health, in her last report before the holidays.
The total number of COVID-19 cases marked as "resolved" is 50,761. A total of 2,531 cases were "resolved" over the four days, from Christmas Eve up to and until Sunday, TPH said.
As well, there were 33 new outbreaks: 14 in health-care institutions, seven in city shelters and congregate settings, five in schools, five in child care centres, and two in community settings and workplaces.
TPH has not yet responded to a request for comment on its latest numbers.
City's overall status on monitoring dashboard is red
According to the city's COVID-19 monitoring dashboard, the city's overall status is red, which means key indicators are trending away from stated goals. A yellow status means stable.
Virus spread and containment, laboratory testing and public health system capacity are all in red, while health system capacity is in yellow.
According to TPH's neighbourhood maps, the neighbourhood of Englemount-Lawrence is the city's hardest hit area as of Dec. 22, with a COVID-19 infection rate of 1,185 cases per 100,000 people.
People aged 20 to 29 make up 20 per cent of Toronto's cases, data from Dec. 22 at 2 p.m. indicates.
And the source of infection, using data from Dec. 19, continues to be as follows: close contact with a case at 56.2 per cent; community at 28.8 per cent; health care at 7.2 per cent; travel at 4.5 per cent; and institutional at 3.2 per cent.
'Behind the numbers are people,' councillor says
Coun. Joe Cressy, who represents Ward 10, Spadina-Fort York, said in a tweet following the release of the numbers on Monday that the data is concerning.
"Behind the numbers are people: friends, family members. Behind the numbers is a story of inequality and hard hit communities. The numbers should hurt. They should also strengthen our resolve to beat this," he said.
De Villa, at a city hall briefing on Dec. 23, said everyone needs to do his or her part to fight the pandemic in Toronto.
"Bringing COVID-19 under control will be the result of multiple solutions, and this includes the choices that each of us make where we can in our daily lives," she said.
De Villa urged Toronto residents to continue staying home when they can, keeping as much distance from others not in their households as possible, and wearing a mask when out doing essential things over the holidays.
"Next year I believe that we can expect better things, and hopefully with a new appreciation and a better understanding of all things."
City in grey lockdown zone since Nov. 23
Toronto moved into the province's grey lockdown zone on Nov. 23. A lockdown for all of Ontario began on Dec. 26, which resulted in small changes to the provincial restrictions in place in Toronto.
Restrictions will continue in southern Ontario until Jan. 23, but will be eased in northern Ontario on Jan. 9. When provincial lockdown restrictions are lifted for southern Ontario, Toronto will have been locked down for 60 days.
