Ontario records 841 COVID-19 infections despite new measures

Ontario hit its highest number of COVID-19 cases since setting a record two weeks ago despite new measures banning indoor dining and closing indoor dining and drinking in hot zones on the Thanksgiving weekend.

The Ministry of Health reported 841 new infections Thursday, up from 719 the previous day and the most since 939 on Oct. 9 with a 20 per cent increase in testing over the previous day. There were nine deaths for the second day in a row.

“If we hadn’t taken any measures our numbers would be even higher than they are now,” said Health Minister Christine Elliott, referring to the modified Stage 2 restrictions in Toronto, Peel, York, and Ottawa.

“While we take some solace in that, we have not driven down the numbers,” chief medical officer Dr. David Williams told reporters, urging Ontarians to take pandemic precautions more seriously.

Toronto had 335 new infections, has been above 300 all week and the percentage of people testing positive is up to 4.4 from 3.2 per 100 a week ago.

“We’ve seen some improvement in Ottawa’s numbers. Not the same in Toronto and Peel,” said Williams, who is keeping an eye on the statistics to gauge the impact of the new restrictions, which weren’t imposed on until Monday.

“If we need to take further measures, of course, we will do so,” Elliott said.

Peel had 162 new infections, York 106 — an increase of 30 from the previous day — and Ottawa 72.

Meanwhile, pressure is building for Premier Doug Ford to axe liability protections covering for-profit nursing homes facing lawsuits from families with loved ones who died of COVID-19 in their care.

All three opposition parties said from Attorney General Doug Downey limiting suits to cases of gross negligence goes too far when it comes to profit-oriented long-term-care chains.

They’re making money,” said Liberal House Leader John Fraser, comparing them to nursing homes operated by not-for-profit corporations, charities and municipalities. “There’s a distinction there.”

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said for-profit corporations in long-term care — which she has promised to bar from the sector if elected premier in 2022 — should not be “off the hook” for some of the “horrors” in nursing homes under the bill.

The legislation has been criticized by families who lost parents and grandparents to the virus in questionable circumstances for limiting lawsuits to cases of “gross negligence,” meaning many cases would be dismissed.

“The Ford government’s made a mistake,” said Green Leader Mike Schreiner, who added he supports that level of immunity for non-profit nursing home operators but not for the profit-oriented chains.

Downey told a news conference it’s appropriate for the government to take a “broad approach” because liability protections are needed for all sorts of businesses, charities and volunteer organizations that made “good faith” efforts to prevent the inadvertent spread of COVID-19.

Ford said the terrible examples of lapses in care cited in a following the emergency deployment of military medical teams to the hardest-hit nursing homes — along with pending reports from the government’s long-term care commission, Ontario Ombudsman Paul Dubé and Auditor General Bonnie Lysyk — could attract the attention of police.

“If police have to do investigations, God bless ‘em,” the premier told a news conference, pledging more action when those reports come out.

“There will be justice.”

The Ontario Long-Term Care Association, which represents nursing home operators, has warned many are having trouble getting their liability insurance renewed and hefty lawsuits could put some out of business, leaving their thousands of residents in limbo.

“We’ve got a sector that’s on the precipice,” said executive director Donna Duncan, noting 60 per cent of the province’s nursing homes are run by for-profit operators, including major chains like Revera.

“This whole notion we’re going to single out 60 per cent of the system, how is that OK?”

Another 25 residents and four staff in nursing homes tested positive for COVID in what has been a steady climb of cases since the end of August,more rapid spread could return, although the number of outbreaks dropped by six to 80 facilities. The virus has killed 1,984 long-term-care residents.

The number of patients requiring hospital care for COVID-19 grew by 10 to 270 people, with 74 in intensive care and 48 of them on ventilators to breathe.

There were 74 more cases in schools across the province and 501 schools reported having students or staff with infections. Outbreaks have forced the temporary closure of five schools.

Rob Ferguson is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: