Ontario’s community COVID-19 cases appear to have peaked, officials say
April 20, 2020
By
The Canadian Press
Spread in long-term care seems to be growing, however
TORONTO — Ontario health officials say the community spread of COVID-19 in Ontario appears to have peaked.
Earlier modelling predicted a peak in May, but officials say restrictions including physical distancing have pushed the peak to now.
The latest modelling released today shows there are two types of outbreaks happening — community spread and long-term care spread.
The modellers say spread in long-term care and other congregate settings seems to be growing.
They also predict there will be fewer than 20,000 COVID-19 cases during the pandemic, much less than the previous forecast of 80,000.
Ontario reported 606 new cases of COVID-19 today, the largest single-day increase, and 31 new deaths.
Despite the large increase, the new total of 11,184 cases is just 5.7 per cent higher than the day before, continuing a relatively low growth trend.
The total includes 584 deaths and 5,515 resolved cases.
The number of people in hospital confirmed to have COVID-19 and those on ventilator went down slightly, while the number of people in intensive care remained stable.
Previous modelling showed that by today, under the “best-case scenario,” more than 1,200 people confirmed to have COVID-19 would be in intensive care units, but currently that number is at 247.
