Ontario is moving COVID-19 data reporting from weekly to weekly updates from next week.
“From June 16, Ontario Public Health (PHO) will switch to weekly reporting and publish the latest COVID-19 data every Thursday,” Health Department spokeswoman Alexandra Hilkene said in a statement issued Friday afternoon.
Since January 2020, the province has published spreadsheets with data on hospitalizations admitted to intensive care and the number of cases related to the virus. Withdrawal from this daily ritual is part of a broader trend toward loosening restrictions on COVID-19 in Ontario.
This update comes as the province prepares to end its mandate for masks on Saturday, one of the last ongoing public health safeguards still in place in the province.
In the future, masks will no longer be required on public transport, hospitals and shelters.
The health ministry says PHO will continue to monitor trends and report as needed in the coming weeks and months. This data will still be available in the province’s open data catalog.
In addition to the frequency of their updates, the province is also reducing “duplicate reports”, such as data on COVID-19 cases in long-term care homes and schools. Other public health units and school boards will continue to provide this information, but it will not be included in the provincial dataset.
Health officials say the transition follows similar decisions from several other Canadian jurisdictions, such as British Columbia and Alberta, along with the Ontario Hospital Association.
In addition, due to the fact that Ontario completed its vaccination proof program months ago, Verify Ontario will be officially removed from the app store by June 24.
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