Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is working to provide more funding.
Despite the blockade in March 2020 and taking strict social distance measures, Toronto sees hospitals and intensive care units close to capacity, as the city struggles with its worst wave of COVID-19.
“Sick Kids, our main children’s hospital, had to open intensive care beds for adults,” said Toronto physician Dr. Kayla Wolofsky. As of Thursday, strict orders to stay at home – people can leave home only for essential reasons – have returned to their place for at least 28 days.
This third increase is probably due to new variants of the virus, pandemic fatigue, the spread of the community as schools and stores reopen, and a relatively slower vaccine launch due to lack of production capacity.
While more than a third of all Americans have received at least one dose of vaccine, only about half (15%) of Canadians have, according to public health statistics in both countries.
“The combination of slow vaccine launches and growing variants has put an incredible amount of pressure on Ontario’s health systems and unfortunately left public health departments with few options to control the spread,” said John Brownstein, director of innovation. at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.
According to epidemiologist Dr. Ashleigh Tuite of the University of Toronto, there are several options that cause concern. Most cases in Ontario at this time come from strain B.1.1.7 (UK), but some cases of strains P.1 (Brazil / Japan) and B.1351 (South Africa) have been reported.
“Regarding what is happening in Ontario,” Tuite said, “concerns have become prevalent – at this time about 70% of reported cases have been identified as a concern.”
Dr. Hiren Patel, a Toronto emergency physician, added: “Increasing vaccinations and maintaining strict blocking guidelines may be the only way to prevent this wave from getting worse.”
Toronto residents have expressed frustration with the launch of the vaccine and its effect on their social lives, as have business owners with some restaurants, gyms, salons and other non-essential services now closed for more than 300 consecutive days.
“Toronto has experienced some of the most intense infection control measures in any city on the planet,” Brownstein said. “While blockages are ultimately a last resort when other measures fail and health care is extended beyond capacity, we cannot ignore the collateral economic impact on health as well.
Some of these health effects include the mental health of Toronto residents.
Elizabeth Whelan, originally from Toronto, said that “in terms of high schools, all extracurricular programs have been essentially canceled, and children instead play games or exercise with their teams on Zoom to try to maintain a human connection.” .
Many believe that this last blockage could have been avoided if the vaccine had been available earlier or had been carried out differently, perhaps prioritizing more younger essential workers instead of just the elderly.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is working to provide additional funding to help test and track contacts and has secured a $ 19 billion stimulus to revive the economy and provide continued support to Canadians.
Karine Tawagi, MD, a hematology and oncology colleague at Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans, contributes to the ABC News Medical Unit.