With the introduction and spread of the Wuhan pneumonia (novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19) variant, the current outbreak in Ontario, Canada, is gradually expanding, with local medical experts describing the situation as “completely out of control”.
Ontario is Canada’s most populous province, with Toronto, Canada’s largest city, and Ottawa, the nation’s capital, both located in Ontario.
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported that according to a report provided by a team of medical experts to local governments, the number of hospital beds in Ontario is now 21 percent higher than during the previous provincial lockdown, and there are 28 percent more intensive care units, and much of the blame for this tragic situation lies with the British variant of the virus “B117,” which has a more alarming infection and death rate. “.
The report points out that, compared to the original strain of the virus, the variant B117 has led to an increase of more than 60% in hospital admissions and a twofold increase in the chance of serious illness among infected patients, and a 56% higher death rate. Currently, 67% of diagnosed cases in Ontario are B117 infections.
One of the report’s lead authors, Peter Juni, a professor of Medicine and epidemiology at the University of Toronto, said, “The outbreak in Ontario is now completely out of control.”
But Juni also said there is still a chance to stop the death toll from rising further if there is a good combination of Epidemic prevention policies and individual actions by residents; he recommends that local governments in Ontario completely lock down indoor spaces where the risk of infection is higher, that Ontario residents follow strict epidemic prevention rules when they are outdoors, and that vaccination is crucial: “We shouldn’t hope for ‘miracles’, that’s not going to happen.” “There’s no other means to win the race (of the epidemic) than a vaccine.”
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