'Don't lose patience,' says Canada's top doctor as Ontario reports 1,299 new COVID-19 cases, 15 new deaths
Stay-at-home orders will be lifted in Toronto and Peel Region on Monday
Ontario reported 1,299 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 new deaths on Sunday, according to Health Minister Christine Elliott.
Toronto is reporting 329 new cases, Peel Region is reporting 192 new cases and York Region is reporting 116 new cases.
The province's cumulative total of confirmed COVID-19 cases has now reached 308,296, with 7,067 cumulative deaths.
Both the daily case count and number of deaths reported on Sunday are an increase from provincial numbers reported on Saturday, when the province logged 990 new cases and six new deaths.
The latest figures come one day before Toronto and Peel Region are set to lift stay-at-home orders that have been in place for four months.
On Monday, both regions will move into the grey zone, which will allow for non-essential stores to open at 25 per cent capacity.
Grocery stores, convenience stores and pharmacies will operate at 50 per cent capacity. Individuals will still need to wear a mask and practice physical distancing.
Dr. Barry Pakes, program director for Public Health and Preventative Medicine at the University of Toronto, told CBC News on Sunday that the transition feels like "a reasonable thing to do right now."
"The changes are really marginal," he said, "and we do have to go really slow."
Medical officers of health in both regions have stressed the need for a slow transition and Pakes says he approves of that approach.
Ontario delivers over 890,600 shots of vaccine
As of 8 p.m. on Saturday, Ontario has administered 890,604 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. Toronto accounts for at least 197,155 of those doses. The city has vaccinated nearly 125,000 people as of Friday.
Ontario recently announced plans for an accelerated vaccine rollout, which should see all adults 60 and older given a first dose of COVID-19 vaccine by early June. That's a full month sooner than initially planned.
However, that plan is contingent upon supply.
"We know how to run mass vaccination campaigns and engage our partners to get all adults vaccinated by June. It's doable as long as the vaccine arrives," Pakes said.
Pakes added that the challenge has really been the "whiplash back-and-forth" on availability.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital and a member of Ontario's COVID-19 vaccine task force, echoed Pakes' caution.
"I think that it's doable," Bogoch told CBC News of the June timeline, "but it's hard to talk in concrete terms with this because the timelines keep changing."
That change is mostly a good news story, Bogoch said, since the timeline is moving up with increased access to vaccines and a plan to space out dosing so more Canadians can have a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine sooner.
Still, Canada's top doctor Dr. Theresa Tam said "don't lose patience" and urged the public to continue to exercise vigilance while speaking on the Rosemary Barton Live show on Sunday.
"It's a pretty tremendous thing that we have several, not just one, but several pretty great vaccines," she said.
"We're buoyed by that sense of optimism," she added noting that "with that sense of optimism comes the need to just hang on in there for a bit longer."
Tam said once Canadians are vaccinated, the country will be able to break through the "crisis phase of this pandemic."
However, until then, she said people need to continue to rely on the years' worth of good habits. That includes avoiding crowded areas, wearing a mask, washing your hands, and practising social distancing.
COVID-19 variants remain a concern
"We're working hand-in-glove with provinces and territories," Federal Health Minister Patty Hadju told the Rosemary Barton Live show. "There is a light at the end of the tunnel, we do have effective vaccines."
Still, Tam said COVID-19 variants continue to be a concern.
"The virus constantly mutates, particularly in areas where there's a lot of infection," she said, which requires an increase in testing and screening.
"The good thing is that these variants, even though they can spread more readily, more quickly, can be controlled by the public health measures that we have," Tam said.
WATCH | What still worries Dr. Theresa Tam one year into the pandemic:
Tam's caution around variants echoes comments made earlier this week by top doctors in Toronto and Peel Region.
In both areas, the doctors recommended the lifting of stay-at-home orders which takes effect on Monday, but warned people against complacency.
As Dr. Lawrence Loh said during a press conference earlier in the week: "Chasing normal too quickly could mean losing the progress that we've made to this point."