We are confident that the Keeping Ontario Safe and Open Framework will serve to give business owners the insight they need as they plan and navigate for the future, including advanced notice that further restriction may be occurring based on changes in Ottawas decision making data, said OCOBIA, in a prepared statement.
In an interview with this newspaper, NDP health critic France Gélinas shared concern about the adequacy of the data that the province will be using to make decisions about regional public health measures under the new framework, considering issues such as the lack of timely COVID-19 test results and contact tracing in some areas of the province.
If the data is not accurate and not up to date, then the decisions that are made with that data can not be accurate or up to date either.
National
As the weather gets colder and activities move indoors, Canadas Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam advised Canadians Wednesday to avoid the 3Cs wherever possible: closed spaces with poor ventilation, crowded places where many people gather, and close contact situations.
All of these can amplify spread of the virus, said Tam. She also noted that spread is happening at informal social gatherings, and in these settings, letting our guard down and not consistently maintaining public health practices, such as physical distancing and mask wearing, can lead to many exposures and infections.
Between Oct. 28 and Nov. 3, the average new daily case count was 3,150, according to Tam. An average of 1,173 people with COVID-19 were being treated in Canadian hospitals on any given day in that period, while an average of 40 deaths related to COVID-19 were reported daily.
As hospitalizations and deaths tend to lag behind increased disease activity by one to several weeks, the concern is that we have yet to see the extent of severe impacts associated with the ongoing increase in COVID-19 disease activity, said Tam, urging Canadians to keep up the public health practices that suppress respiratory infection rates, especially with the advent of flu season.
Quebec
Quebec reported 1,029 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, and 33 new deaths (eight of which occurred in the last 24 hours).
The provinces total COVID-19 death toll now sits at 6,350, while 109,918 cases have been confirmed since the pandemic began.
Hospitalizations rose by 13 in the last day, with 539 COVID-19 patients now hospitalized across the province, including 81 in ICU.
Forty-nine new cases were recorded in the Outaouais, while the COVID-19 death toll in the region increased by two, to 48.
Meanwhile, the Quebec government had stern warnings Wednesday for restaurants that might be considering reopening in the provinces COVID-19 red zones, such as the Outaouais.
A restaurant in the Saguenay region is threatening to open its doors despite the fact that its in a red zone, where dining rooms must remain closed.
That does not sit well with Deputy Premier Geneviève Guilbault, who is also Quebecs minister of public security.
Our message is dont open your restaurants if youre in a red zone, its not allowed, Guilbault told reporters in Quebec City.
And if restaurants do open, the public should not patronize them, she added.
Guilbault noted that people can face stiff fines $1,000 to $6,000 if theyre caught in places that have been ordered closed in red zones.