As thousands prepare to gather for the long Easter weekend, the Ontario health minister says the sixth wave has reached its peak.
“Sewage monitoring seems to show that we have reached the peak that we will begin to see the numbers decline,” Christine Elliott told a news conference on Thursday.
In Ottawa, the trend for wastewater is also declining for the first time in weeks.
“Signals from almost everywhere in the province have decreased or decreased slightly,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an epidemiologist. “Fantastic, this is the right arrow pointing in the right direction, but, of course, we want to see this continue in that direction.”
The update comes as the prime minister encourages people to be careful before long weekend gatherings.
“Be careful, if you have more than 15 people, put on your mask,” said Prime Minister Doug Ford.
Some experts say cases and hospitalizations are expected to increase after the holidays.
“Usually after the holidays we see a jump in cases, so I would say you keep wearing these masks,” said Dr. Zahid But, an epidemiologist. “There is a gap between what you see in wastewater monitoring and hospitalizations.”
Ontario’s chief physician is not obligated to wear masks because of his confidence in health care capacity.
“We are indeed at the highest point or very close to the highest point, which means that there are now more COVID-19s than there were at any other point during this wave,” said Dr. Bogoch. “You really have to wear a mask when you go indoors.”
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Kieran Moore says he does not believe a legally binding mandate is needed at the moment, as he believes the health system has the capacity to take care of all residents.
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