Toronto's top doctor recommends at least 2 more weeks of lockdown

The City of Toronto is asking the province to keep the cityin lockdown for at least anadditional two weeks, says Mayor John Tory.

"We have to do everything we can to avoid a third wave," Tory said during a Wednesday press conference.

The advice comes fromtop doctor Dr. Eileen de Villa, who reported 302 new cases and three deaths within the city.

"I have never been as worried about the future as I am today," saidde Villa. "While there is a downward trend in many key indicators, warning lights are flashing, too."

The city's top doctor said she wants to avoid the "yo-yo" of closing and reopening, noting that the stay-at-home orders and aggressive vaccinations do appear to be working.

The city's health officials sent theirprovincial counterparts a letter over the weekend, de Villa said, asking thatToronto's lockdown end date be pushed toMarch 9, at which point options can be re-evaluated.

'False sense of security'

In that Feb. 13letter, de Villa warned that "reopening in any degree influences public perception of risk and may give a false sense of security that the risk is no longer present."

The letter was co-signed by Peel's chief medical officer of health, Dr. Lawrence Loh.

WATCH | These topdoctors are urging Ontario to extend lockdown restrictions in their regions:

Toronto, Peel top doctors join forces to demand current COVID-19 restrictions be extended

4 years ago

Duration 2:34

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Torontos medical officer of health, and Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel Regions medical officer of health, are urging the province to extend lockdowns in their regions for at least an additional two weeks to get a better handle on the coronavirus variants that are multiplying across their regions. Despite those calls, Yorks medical officer of health is hoping for a different decision in his region. Chris Glover has the details.

"The original strains of COVIDare going down, which is good. But the variant strains are accelerating in growth, and those two trends are cancelling each other out," Loh told reporters on Wednesday.

The growth rate is "alarming," he said, warning that,"Another storm is brewing."

Loh acknowledged that people won't want to hear the newsbut said he'd be remiss in his duties if he didn't sound the alarm.

"I feel for everyone that has been impacted, but I ask a simple question: can we hold on for just two weeks moreso that we can be sure that we'll keep our kids in school for longer, continue to protect our vulnerable, and continue to protect our essential workers as vaccine arrives?"

WATCH | Toronto faces 'exponential growth' in coronavirus variant cases if reopening is rushed, says Dr. Eileen de Villa:

Toronto faces 'exponential growth' in coronavirus variant cases if reopening is rushed, says Dr. Eileen de Villa

4 years ago

Duration 3:02

Dr. Eileen de Villa, Toronto's chief medical officer of health, said Wednesday that if COVID-19 restrictions are lifted too quickly, the city could face an "exponential growth" in coronavirus variant cases.

Recoveries outpacingnew infections

Earlier on Wednesday, de Villa said Toronto should take a cautious approach when it comes to reopening due to the "increasing presence" of coronavirus variants of concernand the reopening of schools.

A stay-at-home order remains in place in the city, although schools reopened this week. The emergency order is set to continue until at least Feb. 22, and de Villa told CBC Radio's Metro Morning the city shouldn't rush to make reopening decision until it gets a better grip on the evolving situation.

"We should slow things down," she said.

Despite Toronto representing the highest number of new infections in Ontario Wednesday, there have been some positive signs. For example, recoveries from the illness outpaced new infections on Tuesday, andthe number of daily active cases has gonesteadily down from January's peak.

"We are seeing declining rates as of late," de Villa said, attributing that success to the public's efforts.

Still, more than 300 people are in hospital while at least 80 of those people are in intensive care units.The average test positivity rate for the last week remains at 5.5 per cent.Toronto Public Health also continues to struggle with contact tracing. Just 12 per cent of newly reported confirmed cases are reached within 24 hours.

LISTEN | Eileende Villa's full interview on Metro Morning:

As people move, so does the virus

Dr. Peter Lin echoed de Villa's concerns around reopening, noting that as people begin moving around again they'll be moving the virus, too.

Right now, Lin said, there's still a lot of virus floating around or, more specifically, reproducing inside people'snoses.

"There's tonnes of virus out there; that's the problem," he said.

Add to thatvariants such as B117, first discovered in the U.K., and people letting their guard down, and the conditions are there for a third wave of the pandemic, Lin said.

Vaccines, Lin said, won't arrive fast enough to guard against this potential influx of cases.

Lin also noted young, healthy peopleare often the ones contracting the virus (Toronto Public Health data shows 1 in 5 people testing positive for COVID-19 are in their 20s), and they will likely be among the last to be vaccinated.