Ontario is seeing an estimated 100,000 to 120,000 new cases of COVID-19 daily, according to the head of the province’s scientific advisory table.
Dr. Peter Jüni said on Wednesday that estimate is based on the amount of the novel coronavirus seen in Ontario’s wastewater — data experts began relying on to get a sense of the pathogen’s spread when the province started restricting PCR testing last year. He said the current spike looks very much like the fifth wave fueled by the Omicron variant when it reached a peak in early January.
“We’re at the same level again that we were then,” Jüni told CBC News Network.
The provincial government lifted most COVID-19 public health measures, including mask mandates in indoor settings, in March, but Jüni said Ontarians should start wearing masks again as they’re the quickest way to bring cases down.
“Of course, we’re in a different position. I agree, we shouldn’t panic but we should mask up. That’s the point here,” he said.
Jüni said the numbers are concerning — “we create the tidal wave again” — but he added Ontario might not see the same number of hospitalizations as it did in January due to mass vaccination.
“The point here really is, we’ve build up a wall of immunity, thanks to third doses and thanks to a lot of people who got infected. This will help us,” he said.
‘No cause for panic,’ health minister says
An estimated 4.5 to five million people in Ontario have been infected with COVID-19 since Dec. 1, 2021, Jüni said.
“It’s basically us lifting the restrictions and now just moving too much toward normality,” Jüni said.
“We just need a little bit longer right now.”
But earlier on Wednesday, Health Minister Christine Elliott said the province was expecting a spike in infections as the province reopened.
Vaccines and antiviral drugs should help the province weather the latest surge, she said.
“This is something that we are sure we’re going to be able to get through. There is no cause for panic.”
Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott says: ‘This is something that we are sure we’re going to be able to get through. There is no cause for panic.’ (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)
Dr. Kashif Pirzada, an emergency room physician in Toronto, said hospitals are seeing a steady increase in admissions of COVID-19 patients, especially the elderly.
“It’s too early to say, but if it’s following anything like the last wave, we’re going to hit capacity in the next couple of weeks,” Pirzada said.
He said hospital workers are already burned out.
“Already, the wait times are crazy. We’re short staffed. People are getting sick every day. At the hospitals I work, they’re asking for people to come in early, leave late and cover for sick shifts,” he said.
Pirzada said the government needs to make a real plan to provide guidance on what to do at home, work and school as the pandemic continues. He recommended the return of mask mandates, improvements in ventilation of indoor spaces and twice weekly rapid testing at schools and workplaces.
“These are messages that I wish that our medical leadership would get out there, but it’s not really happening right now,” he said.
“Dropping precautions when a wave was starting was a really bad move and it’s going to cost us all, unfortunately.”
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
