Published Monday, April 12, 2021 1:43PM EDT
Last Updated Monday, April 12, 2021 5:00PM EDT
In a presentation to Toronto’s Board of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa said that the third wave of the pandemic is “wreaking havoc” on the city.
“All together this says that right now, what we can anticipate of this third wave, is likely going to be worse that we have seen thus far over the course of the pandemic,” the medical officer of health said.
“As I've mentioned already now a couple of times, this is due to increased transmission, and increased severity associated with that B.1.1.7. variant of concern, which is now the dominant strain.”
De Villa added that the projection of about 2,500 daily infections by the end of April is based on the current rate of COVID-19 transmission as well as vaccinations. If the rate of transmission remains stagnant past April, the city could see more than 6,000 daily COVID-19 cases by June.
The record for daily COVID-19 cases in Toronto was 1,642 and was logged during the pandemic’s second wave.
The city recorded 1,269 new COVID-19 cases on Monday as well as 44 new admissions to the hospital—five in intensive care. There were also five more deaths related to the disease in Toronto.
De Villa said that the city is reporting a seven-day average of 941 COVID-19 cases, a 116 per cent increase from the data presented three weeks ago.
Speaking at a news conference Monday, de Villa said that the city is currently experiencing an “explosive, exponential growth” in COVID-19 variants.
“The old COVID-19 virus is being bulldozed by the B.1.1.7 variant, with the other two primary variants present in Toronto as well,” she said.
Asked if the city is considering further public health restrictions to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus, de Villa said she supports any measure that can be made to “work reasonably on the ground.”
“Rest assured that there is lots of conversation ongoing between ourselves and other public health units in the province,” she added.