The province recorded 939 new COVID cases yesterday, fulfilling predictions that Ontario will be averaging 1,000 daily new cases by mid-October. More than 600 of the cases were in the hot spots — there are 336 new cases in Toronto, 150 in Peel and 126 in Ottawa—but that still leaves over 300 cases in outlaying areas of the province that had seen relatively low daily new case counts until, this week. There were four deaths recorded. There were 19 new hospitalizations bringing the total in hospital to 225 but ICU patients and Ventilated cases remained unchanged at 47 and 29 respectively. At the pandemic’s peak in the spring there were more than 1,000 people in hospital and 263 in ICU. The province is reporting that Hamilton recorded 40 new cases overnight compared to 11 the day previous. Halton reported 59 new cases from Wednesday.
The government’s pandemic advisers will recommend cabinet put Ontario’s COVID-19 hot spots under a modified version of the province’s Stage 2 restrictions, according to the sources.
The measures being recommended to cabinet Friday include the closure of:
Indoor food and drink service in restaurants, bars, nightclubs and food courts.
Cinemas, casinos and conference venues.
Gyms and fitness centres.
Cabinet is also being urged to put capacity limits on real estate open houses and guided tours and to shutter interactive exhibits at tourist attractions, such as museums where there is a high risk of transmission of the virus. Team sports would be limited to training activities, with no games or scrimmages permitted.
The recommended closures do not extend to schools, child-care centres, colleges, universities or courtrooms.
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