Ontario Science Advisory Table calls for more measures to combat coronavirus

The Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table said on Tuesday that the provincial government must implement more measures to combat the spread of coronavirus in the province, Global News reports.

The group called upon the government to close more workplaces, implement paid sick leave for workers, and speed up the vaccine distribution process to essential workers.

"I am very concerned that we haven't done enough yet in Ontario to flatten the curve," said Dr. Allison McGeer, who serves on the table. "Waiting to find out if we have risks what may be intolerable stress on our hospital system, many more deaths, and greater economic hardship in the slightly longer term."

The table also criticized the Ford government for closing outdoor recreational places such as sports fields. The government had also announced that it would be closing children's playgrounds, but quickly reversed after receiving backlash.

The government additionally walked back on a plan to expand police powers in order to enforce government-imposed stay-at-home orders. The province had announced that police would be allowed to randomly stop ordinary citizens to inquire into why they are not at home. The measure received intense backlash from the Ontario population and police departments, many of which said they would not enforce such an order.

The calls for different pandemic control policy come as Ontario faces a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic. While new diagnoses of coronavirus dropped on Tuesday to below 3,500, the number of new daily cases for most of the past week has been over 4,000.