The province has announced that if we were to move forward with strong measures in place we could see somewhere between 3,000 and 15,000 deaths.
Had the province not taken the necessary precautions when they did, Ontario could have seen 100,000 deaths.
As of now, the province is at 67 deaths.
At this time Ontario and the rest of the country is roughly in line with the United States in our potential death count.
President and CEO of Public Health Ontario, Dr Peter Donnelly, says that what is striking is the high mortality rate in those over the age of 80 in Ontario is 60%.
This statistic proves the importance in implementing an “iron ring” around our senior population.
All of the medical professionals who spoke today reiterated that it is difficult for them to nail down a specific number as this situation continues to rapidly progress.
Predictions suggest that we will see 80,00 cases by the end of April.
When people have discussed the idea of a complete shutdown, Dr. Donnelly says that shutting down the province and keeping our economy strong is one in the same; saying that there is convincing research done that shows by implementing strong measures and bearing down on social distancing and staying at home, we can stop the spread quickly and our economy can bounce back.
They are working on enhanced case contact tracking and testing with the help of a team of federal employees and university students.
They will also be increasing their testing. With that, they have been able to eliminate the backlog of tests.
Dr. Donnelly says that testing those in long term care homes and their caregivers is a top priority.
President and CEO of Ontario Health, Matt Anderson, says in the next month to early-May our ICU capacity will be pushed beyond what we can accept and they are working on increasing their capacity.
Dr. Donnelly predicts that the full course of the pandemic could last up to two-years as a second wave is possible.
This can be prevented by, “continuing to stay home, stay focused, stop the spread and stay safe.”
Dr. Donnelly says they will continue to refine their projections as the situation progresses.
