During this holiday season, Mayor Tory and Dr. de Villa are urging people to stay home as much as possible to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect our health care system. Only celebrate in-person with the people that you live with and celebrate virtually with all others. Dr. de Villa shared a number of visuals that explained the very serious situation in Toronto. From January 25 to October 20, Toronto reached 25,000 cases of COVID-19. It has now taken approximately eight weeks to double the number of cases – to more than 50,000. Reported cases also only reflect the tip of the iceberg; the number of true infections is much larger than reported cases, which reflects only people who have tested positive. Reporting does not capture infections that aren’t symptomatic or are so mildly symptomatic that people don’t think they have COVID-19 and don’t get tested. Visuals are available on toronto.ca: https://www.toronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/92e5-MOH-Presentation_16December2020.pdf.
All Toronto residents should be adopting steps for self-protection. Everyone should only consider leaving their homes for essential activities such as work, school and fresh air and exercise. As much as possible, residents are asked to limit contact to people in the same household, keep at least six feet apart from people not in the same household and wear a mask when outside of their homes, especially in indoor settings and when physical distancing is difficult. Residents should wash hands frequently and remain at home when ill.
The City’s website is updated daily with the latest health advice and information about City services, social supports and economic recovery measures. Check http://www.toronto.ca/covid-19/ for answers to common questions before contacting the Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Hotline or 311.
