Premier Doug Ford says Ontarians should continue to be cautious, especially this Easter weekend.
Ford says COVID-19 wastewater testing levels have peaked and are slowly going down, which was confirmed by the Science Advisory Table in the new modeling that came out later Thursday.
The table’s new data also shows that Ontario may see a slight uptick in virus-related hospitalizations and intensive care admission, but officials say those numbers will be well below those seen during the fifth wave.
Asked about Chief Medical Officer Dr. Moore’s comments on rethinking mask mandates in transit, hospitals, and long-term care homes, Ford says he has no problem with reinstating the mandate if that is the recommendation from Dr. Moore.
“I encourage everyone to be cautious when you are in a crowded room. Yes, put your mask on, but the reason we aren’t going into lockdowns is because of the protocols, capacity and infrastructure that we’ve put in place.” Ford says.
Dr. Moore also mentioned on Monday he expects ICU admissions to go up to 600 even though wastewater levels are improving. Asked if the province could handle that number, Ford says if we need to maximize bed capacity, Ontario can boost its capacity to as high as 3,000 beds.
***With files from Mo Fahim
