According to surveys, about one-third of people in Ontario say they are not following public health guidelines such as physical distancing and staying away from people in other households. Escalating infection rates confirm this, including, 14 recorded cases of the U.K. variant which is about 56 percent more contagious than the original strain.
If the more contagious version takes hold, math predicts infection levels will double in just 10 days — compared with the current rate of 35 to 40 days; daily new infections would hit 10,000 by mid-February at a 3% growth rate, 25,000 at five percent and 40,000 at seven percent. Already, 40% of nursing homes are experiencing outbreak and second wave deaths. In response, the Ontario government is announcing additional lock-down measures today. See Toronto Star: Ontario returning to many restrictions not seen since the first days of the pandemic:
Hospital intensive care units, now filled with more than 400 COVID-19 patients, could reach 500 within days and double that in February, further reducing cancer, cardiac and other surgeries already being cancelled. Fully 25 percent of hospitals have no spare ICU beds and another 25 percent have only one or two left. Ontario has just under 2,000 ICU beds.
Similar trends are unfolding in much of the world presently, with a fresh wave of economic weakness and job loss underway. Individuals who are not following the distancing protocols are helping to perpetuate the carnage. These are the facts.
Sadly, The Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) warns that its business closure estimates are on the rise. Here is a direct video link.
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