COVID-19: Dr. Eileen de Villa breaks down Toronto’s record-high case count
35% of Toronto’s new cases are the result of close contact with non-household members
Dr. Eileen de Villa breaks down Toronto’s high case counts as Toronto hit a new record-high for a second straight day. Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health says today’s case counts are a blunt warning. COVID-19 continues to spread easily and widely. It is a warning that everyone at every age shares the risk of infection, just as all of us have the ability to reduce the risk through the actions and choices we take in the next several weeks.
Toronto Public Health says of today’s 761 COVID-19 cases, almost 57 per cent are people between the ages of 20 and 49 years. There are 167 reported cases among people between the ages of 20 and 29 years, 154 reported cases among people between the ages of 30 and 39 years, and 112 reported cases among people aged 40-49 years.
While the trend in case counts is upward, Dr. Eileen de Villa says it is likely these numbers reflect infections acquired prior to the decision by the Province of Ontario to move Toronto into the highest category of restrictions starting November 23, 2020, to prevent further virus spread.
“My team reviews COVID-19 data each day and has begun analyzing data from the newly launched Source of Infection Survey. Among the findings, we have noted that 1 in 5 (21 per cent) of responding COVID-19 cases confirmed that they have had people visit inside their home, or went inside someone else’s home, where there were 10 people or less during the period they acquired the infection,” said Dr. de Villa.
“While most cases reporting close contact with a known COVID-19 case identified their spouse or partner (21 per cent) as the case, the next most common relationships reported were friends (16 per cent) and co-workers (16 per cent),” said Dr. de Villa. “In total, 35 per cent of cases reporting close contact indicated that their close contact with known cases were only non-household contacts. This underscores guidance to keep contact within your household.”
Dr. de Villa also emphasized that the data show that limiting your contacts to your household is the best way to prevent COVID-19 during this high case activity time.
“We will continue to look at these data for important trends,” said Dr. de Villa. “Since yesterday’s COVID-19 update, we have learned of 13 more people being admitted to hospital, bringing the total number of COVID-19 related hospitalizations in Toronto to 258. Currently, there are also 49 COVID-19 patients in ICU, an increase of one since yesterday.
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