Ontario could see 10,000 new COVID-19 cases daily by Dec. 31 as Omicron variant takes over, science table head says
Ontario could see upwards of 10,000 new cases of COVID-19 a day by New Year's Eve and will likely have to reintroduce some capacity limits in order to protect the health-care system while it embarks on a broader rollout of third doses, the head of the province's science table says.
Dr. Peter Juni, who is the scientific director of the Ontario science advisory table, made the comment during an interview with CTV News Toronto’s Colin D'Mello on Wednesday.
"This trajectory won't change without public health measures, and this means that we're above 10,000 cases a day before New Year's Eve," Juni said.
"You have to do enough that you basically can get this curve down ... and bring it relatively flat and keep it flat for as long as we need to get to roughly 50 per cent of the eligible population vaccinated with a third dose."
"If you can do that in, you know, three to four weeks, great. This is not forever. But you know it's really an extraordinary circumstance and nobody has seen what's happening right now."
Juni said he thinks people need to stop "thinking (Omicron) will be mild" or "it's not a problem."
"Of course it's a problem," he said. "Even if it were half as severe it wouldn't help us a penny, nothing."
A new report from Public Health Ontario suggests that the Omicron variant likely already accounts for more than 80 per cent of the COVID-19 cases being confirmed in the province each day, based on projections that take into account likely time lags in the incubation period.
The same report also estimates that each Omicron case identified in Ontario between Nov. 28 and Dec. 9 infected 7.7 times as many people as each case involving the previously dominant Delta variant, underscoring the real threat that the province faces.
The authors of the report says that Ontario will need to "rapidly implement public health responses to contain the rapid spread of Omicron," though they don't provide specific recommendations.
'NOT GOING BACK TO SQUARE ONE'
In his interview with CTV News Toronto, Juni seemed to suggest that Ontario can avoid the sort of widespread lockdown it had to put in place in the spring, but he said that that capacity limits will have to reintroduced for many venues and the rollout of third doses will need to be accelerated significantly.
"It is not going back to square one with public health measures, that's really important. We learned what is high risk. But unfortunately for restaurant owners, restaurants are high risk. Unfortunately for people who organise a Christmas party at all, that's high risk,” he said.
"It's about capacity limits. In sports arenas, you know, 20,000 people is probably too much. We need less people and all of them masked, so drop food and drinks there."
On Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said he would be making recommendations to Premier Doug Ford’s cabinet on potential measures that could help slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
"There will be a discussion in the next coming days about what additional measures we need, if any, to best protect Ontarians against Omicron," Moore said. "Further news will be announced later this week."
He said capacity limits are being reviewed by his team, and options will be presented to the Ford government on things like maximum group sizes for gatherings and best practices in schools.
"We are planning to best protect our healthcare system," Moore said. "We're taking nothing for granted with this rapidly spreading virus."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada sending more artillery to Ukraine, 'crucial' to fight against Russia: Anand
Canada is sending an additional 20,000 rounds of ammunition to Ukraine for the Ukrainian military to use in its ongoing defence against the Russians. This ammunition—155mm calibre, as well as fuses and charge bags—is being donated, but comes at a cost of $98 million, according to the federal government.

Power outages persist across Ontario and Quebec as death toll rises
Power outages caused by the powerful and deadly storm that swept across Ontario and Quebec on Saturday are stretching into another day, as hydro providers warned customers they could be waiting even longer for service to be fully restored.
Experts hope 'ring vaccination' will contain monkeypox outbreaks
An infectious disease expert believes monkeypox outbreaks can be contained by using a strategy called 'ring vaccination' – which means vaccinating all the close contacts of an infected person.
Baby formula: Health Canada monitoring 'potential' sunflower oil shortage
Health Canada says it is preparing for the possibility that a shortage of sunflower oil could further strain baby formula supplies in Canada.
11 killed in shooting attacks on 2 bars in Mexico
Eleven people, eight of them women, were killed in simultaneous shooting attacks on two bars in north-central Mexico, authorities said Tuesday.
Satellite images appear to show Russian ships loading up with Ukrainian grain in Crimea
Russia's theft of Ukrainian grain appears to be ramping up as it continues its war on the country, according to new satellite photos of the Crimean port of Sevastopol.
Mapping program Mounties struggled to open could have helped contain N.S. mass killer
A report looking into a mapping program the RCMP had access to -- but couldn't open -- during the 2020 mass shooting in Nova Scotia concludes it could have helped contain the killer's rampage.
Amber Heard rests case in civil suit without calling Depp
Actor Amber Heard rested her case Tuesday in the civil suit between her and ex-husband Johnny Depp without calling Depp to the stand.
200 bodies found in Mariupol as war rages in Ukraine's east
Workers digging through the rubble of an apartment building in Mariupol found 200 bodies in the basement, Ukrainian authorities said Tuesday, as more horrors come to light in the ruined city that has seen some of the worst suffering of the 3-month-old war.