Ontario health minister says Omicron cases expected to peak this month
Two weeks after Ontario imposed sweeping public health measures in an effort to blunt the rapid spread of COVID-19 due to the Omicron variant, the province’s minister of health says that cases of the virus are expected to peak in the next several days.
“Omicron cases are expected to peak this month, with a peak in hospitalizations and ICU admissions to follow,” Health Minister Christine Elliott said during a news conference on Wednesday.
“New hospitalizations are slowing and are now doubling closer to every two weeks," she said.
Elliott’s comments come a day after Premier Doug Ford revealed that “positive news” regarding the province’s restrictions would be coming later this week.
Ford doubled down on those comments on Wednesday when he said that the forthcoming "positive announcement" would be beneficial to restaurants and gyms which are currently shuttered.
Since then, CTV News Toronto has learned that Ontario will gradually loosen restrictions starting with indoor dining on Jan. 31, according to sources familiar with the matter. Ford is expected to make the official announcement on Thursday at Queen's Park.
On Jan. 5, the province introduced public health measures, including the closure of in-person learning at schools until Jan. 17, the reduction in capacity at personal care services and shopping centres and the halting of indoor dining at restaurants and bars until Jan. 26.
Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health has said that he and his team have been monitoring key metrics related to the province’s COVID-19 battle such as hospitalizations, ICU admissions, and deaths related to the virus, as well as test positivity rate and the virus’s reproductive number.
On Wednesday, hospitalizations linked to COVID-19 in Ontario reached 4,132 and ICU admissions reached 589 – the highest reported number in months.
However, Moore said earlier this week that the number of cases is decelerating in terms of hospitalizations and ICUs.
Before that, Moore had warned that he could not “guarantee” that measures would be lifted on Jan. 26. When asked if his opinion on the timeline had changed since those comments were made and as students return to school across the province, he said that any decision to lift public health restrictions would be one made by the government.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
From essential goods to common stocking stuffers, Trudeau offering Canadians temporary tax relief
Canadians will soon receive a temporary tax break on several items, along with a one-time $250 rebate, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Thursday.
She thought her children just had a cough or fever. A mother shares sons' experience with walking pneumonia
A mother shares with CTVNews.ca her family's health scare as medical experts say cases of the disease and other respiratory illnesses have surged, filling up emergency departments nationwide.
Trump chooses Pam Bondi for attorney general pick after Gaetz withdraws
U.S. president-elect Donald Trump on Thursday named Pam Bondi, the former attorney general of Florida, to be U.S. attorney general just hours after his other choice, Matt Gaetz, withdrew his name from consideration.
Putin says Russia attacked Ukraine with a new missile that he claims the West can't stop
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Thursday that Moscow has tested a new intermediate-range missile in a strike on Ukraine, and he warned that it could use the weapon against countries that have allowed Kyiv to use their missiles to strike Russia.
Here's a list of items that will be GST/HST-free over the holidays
Canadians won’t have to pay GST on a selection of items this holiday season, the prime minister vowed on Thursday.
A one-of-a-kind Royal Canadian Mint coin sells for more than $1.5M
A rare one-of-a-kind pure gold coin from the Royal Canadian Mint has sold for more than $1.5 million. The 99.99 per cent pure gold coin, named 'The Dance Screen (The Scream Too),' weighs a whopping 10 kilograms and surpassed the previous record for a coin offered at an auction in Canada.
Video shows octopus 'hanging on for dear life' during bomb cyclone off B.C. coast
Humans weren’t the only ones who struggled through the bomb cyclone that formed off the B.C. coast this week, bringing intense winds and choppy seas.
Taylor Swift's motorcade spotted along Toronto's Gardiner Expressway
Taylor Swift is officially back in Toronto for round two. The popstar princess's motorcade was seen driving along the Gardiner Expressway on Thursday afternoon, making its way to the downtown core ahead of night four of ‘The Eras Tour’ at the Rogers Centre.
Service Canada holding back 85K passports amid Canada Post mail strike
Approximately 85,000 new passports are being held back by Service Canada, which stopped mailing them out a week before the nationwide Canada Post strike.