Toronto sees uptick in COVID-19 cases in residents 40 and younger, top doctor says
City's medical officer of health cautions that risks posed by COVID-19 have not subsided
Toronto's top doctor says that in the last two weeks, the city has seen a noticeable increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in people under 40 years old.
That includes residents in both the 20 to 39 demographic, as well as those 19 years old and younger, said Dr. Eileen de Villa at an afternoon news conference.
"I know that we are all feeling COVID fatigue and that we would like to put this pandemic behind us," she said, but that everyone needs to continue to heed the advice of Toronto Public Health.
"The importance of this cannot be overstated," she added.
WATCH | Dr. Eileen de Villa on what Toronto has learned from the COVID-19 pandemic:
De Villa said the city saw an additional 33 confirmed infections of the novel coronavirus Monday. In total, 15,808 confirmed cases of COVID-19 have been reported in Toronto since the first instance on January 25.
Of those:
- 14, 350 people have recovered (about 90 per cent).
- 1,165 people have died from the illness (about 7.5 per cent).
- 12 per cent were hospitalized.
- Slightly less than three per cent were admitted to intensive care units.
The average age of infected people is 44, and both males and females have been affected in nearly equal numbers.
The majority of cases in Toronto have been traced back to close contact with an infected person, de Villa said. The risk of contracting the novel coronavirus will only increase as the reopening process continues.
Toronto has been in Stage 3 of Ontario's reopening plan for nearly a month, and de Villa said she is encouraged by the current data.
"This is good news for us. But we can't take this progress for granted, or mistake it as being back to normal. We're not and we must remember that," she told reporters.
"The reality is that all of us have to live with this virus and be very careful until effective treatments and vaccines are available."