The Ontario government, media and the public have paid attention to little else but COVID-19 for the last year and a half; now that the province is making real progress on the virus, it’s time to switch focus to Ontario’s significant and fundamental economic problems.
While there are disturbing increases in case numbers elsewhere in the country, Ontario continues its gentle downward curve. Hospitalization numbers are stable and death numbers are low.
Last week, Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore announced big increases in the number of fans allowed at indoor and outdoor sporting events, moving them up to 50 per cent and 75 per cent of capacity, respectively. The usual predictions of doom were largely absent and the fact that nearly 30,000 Blue Jays fans came out to games this week shows that public fear is abating.
Then there is this week’s modelling from the province’s science advisory table. Just a month ago, the modellers predicted a frightening surge of cases this fall. There could be 4,000 cases a day by the start of October, they said, maybe even 9,000.
For the rest of this column: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/randall-denley-ontarios-pandemic-is-getting-better-its-other-big-economic-problems-arent