Ontario’s top doctor to make COVID-19 announcement on Thursday

Ontario’s chief medical officer of health will be making a COVID-19 announcement at 3 p.m. on Thursday.

Dr. Kieran Moore was scheduled to provide an update on Ontario’s case and contact management and testing guidance on Tuesday but the news conference was postponed until later in the week.

The change was made so health officials could evaluate Ontario’s data after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control shortened recommended isolation and quarantine periods for COVID-19 from 10 to five days, and similarly shortened the time that close contacts need to quarantine.

The CDC said the guidance is in keeping with growing evidence that people with the virus are most infectious in the two days before and three days after symptoms develop.

On Wednesday, Ontario had the highest tally of cases reported in a single day since the pandemic was declared in the province.

More than 10,000 cases were reported and three deaths related to the virus.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said 726 people were in hospital with COVID-19 as of Tuesday and 190 patients in intensive care.

The province says a total of more than 26.8 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine have been administered.