Ontario reports first day of zero coronavirus deaths since March

On Monday, Ontario recorded no new deaths related to COVID-19 for the first time since March, according to the Toronto Sun.

“It’s great that we have zero reported today, but that doesn’t mean we’ll continue to have zero,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario Associate Chief Medical Officer of Health.

Yaffe did say that there is hope that COVID-19 deaths are in decline, given the low number of current patients in hospital, particularly those who require ventilators.

The downward trend in cases has been happening across the board, including the number of outbreaks at long-term care home. There is currently 34 outbreaks at long-term care homes across the province which have made up the bulk of the deaths as well as Ontarians over the age of 80.

Monday also saw an 0.4 percent increase of new infections with 154 new cases. Of Ontario's 34 public health units, 29 of them reported five cases or less.

Health Minister Christine Elliott tweeted, "Today, Ontario is reporting 154 new cases of #COVID19, a 0.4% increase. Locally, 29 of the province’s 34 public health units are reporting five or fewer cases, with 18 of them reporting no new cases at all. Windsor-Essex is reporting four new cases today."

The province has confirmed a total of 35,948 cases of COVID-19 since the outbreak began.

Mandatory face mask bylaws are being adopted by various municipalities at an increasing rate, as the province enters Stage 2 of its reopening plan.

The City of Toronto will begin its mandatory face mask policy as of Tuesday, with 430 cases per 100,000 residents, the city has the highest rate in Ontario.

Premier Doug Ford announced that the last two areas of the province to still be stuck in Stage 1 of reopening, Leamington and Kingsville, will move into Stage 2 on Tuesday as well. At which point Premier Ford can get a haircut, as he said we would wait until the entire province had entered Stage 2 which allows for barbers and salons to reopen.

On Monday, the Windsor-Essex region reported four new cases, a positive sign for an area that had several previous outbreaks of infections among farm workers.

“We’re fortunate we haven’t seen huge outbreaks and I think that’s very good news … we are looking to move into Stage 3 as soon as we possibly can, but that data is being assessed right now.” said Elliott on Monday.

Public health officials are now reviewing the data from across Ontario to decide when will be the best time to move into Stage 3, which would allow all businesses to be open with the exception of allowing fans to attend sporting events and large concerts.