Ontario is reporting over 3,300 new coronavirus cases as the number of patients in intensive care units hits an all-time high of 900 for the first time in the pandemic. Premier Doug Ford has called upon the federal government to impose tighter restrictions at land borders to curb the threat posed by COVID-19 varients.
CTV News Canada is reporting that with 6,803 tests completed in the previous 24-hour period, Ontario has a positivity rate of about 7.3 percent. This number has remained stable for the past few days.
Of the 900 ICU patients reported on Friday, up from 883 on Thursday, 637 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. As of Saturday, there are 2,152 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario.
Concerns grow over spread of vaniants
On Thursday, reports the Toronto Star, Ontario Premier Doug Ford wrote a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, asking that the federal government impose mandatory three-day quarantines in hotels for travelers entering Canada at some of the busiest land crossings.
Ford is deeply concerned with the high number of cases in the province, of which 90 percent are the more transmissible variants of concern. “Too many people are exploiting these weak measures at our land border to get around the hotel quarantine,” the premier said.
“These reports are deeply troubling and further illustrate the extreme risk that inadequate border measures pose in the face of deadly COVID-19 variants,” the letter said.
However, Ottawa was indicating on Friday that it would not impose hotel quarantine requirements at land crossings as requested, suggesting that land crossings were not a major source of infections.
Ford also noted in his letter that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, were identified in the province.
Canada may suspend entry of all international students into Ontario
According to the Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), an education service provider based in Ottawa, there were 530,540 international students in Canada in 2020. Of that number, 34 percent of the students were from India, and 22 percent were from China.
Business Today notes that Ontario has the maximum number of foreign students at 242,825 or 46 percent, according to CBIE’s report.
Global News is reporting that at a news conference on Friday, Trudeau said the government is considering halting the arrival of international students in Ontario, following a request from Premier Ford,
“Premier Ford asked that we suspend the arrival of international students,” he said, adding, “because at this time Ontario is the only province requesting this, we’re happy to work more narrowly with them.”
There may be a little problem in Trudeau’s interpretation of what Ford actually said in his letter, though. Global News points out that it reported on Thursday that Ford had urged the prime minister to tighten international and provincial borders.
The Toronto Star is also reporting that Premier Ford says he never requested that the government suspend the arrival of international students.
The bottom line? Trudeau reiterated on Friday his intentions of working closely with the provinces to quell the spread of the coronavirus and cautioned against any kind of non-essential travel.
“We’re engaging with other provinces that are hit hard by this third wave to see how we can help. We are ready to send any resources needed to protect you and your family,” he said.
