Your sacrifices and adherence to the reccomendations of public health officials are paying off, Toronto: The 2019 novel coronavirus has almost, at least for now, finally stopped spreading.
Only one new case of COVID-19 was reported in Canada's largest city on Monday, according to Toronto Public Health, marking the lowest case increase we've seen by far since the pandemic first hit.
This, after reporting just six new cases the day previous and with a new posted overall recovery rate of nearly 90 per cent.
"As of 3 p.m. on July 27, 15,338 cases of COVID-19 in Toronto have been reported to Toronto Public Health and 13,785 people have recovered," reads the city's COVID-19 data portal as updated on July 28 a 5:03 p.m.
While two new deaths were reported in today's data drop, there are no new hospitalizations to speak of, and 13 more recoveries from the viral illness were logged.
Not bad at all for a city of roughly 2.9 million people — the fourth-largest in North America.
Today's summary of #COVID19 cases in Toronto: pic.twitter.com/UcPkSbYzoX
— Toronto Public Health (@TOPublicHealth) July 28, 2020
Just to put Toronto's numbers into perspective, I've gathered some data from other similarly-sized North American cities.
Chicago, with a population around 2.7 million, reported 240 new cases on Tuesday. Houston, Texas, at just under 2.3 million residents, saw an increase of 846 cases. Our friends in Montreal, of which there are about 1.8 million in total, reported 696 new cases over the same period of time.
North America's third largest city, Los Angeles, reported 2,708 new cases and 51 new deaths today, but their population does exceed ours by more than a million people.
Still, an increase of ONE case — just one! — over a period of 24 hours is something everyone in Toronto should be proud of. Proud, but not complacent.
The COVID-19 pandemic is still very much in play and, once Toronto gets the greenlight to move into Stage 3 (as we're expected to tomorrow), health and safety measures like physical distancing, frequent handwashing and the use of masks will be more important than ever to prevent a second wave.
"While I'm pleased that our local COVID-19 cases continue to decrease, new infections continue to be reported each day in our city, we know that approximately 25 per cent of these cases are a result of community transmission," said Toronto's Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Eileen de Villa during a press conference on Monday.
"I am also concerned by what we are observing in other Canadian cities and locations globally as they reopen. We cannot take this lightly. We must not let our guard down."
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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