Average COVID patient now interacting with thirty people before being diagnosed, says Ontario doctor

Dr. Lawrence Loh, the head of public health in Peel Region, mentioned his concern over a huge jump in the amount of contacts on average each person testing positive for the coronavirus has had.

Dr. Loh said during a briefing this morning at Brampton City Hall that the average number of contacts identified per case of coronavirus went from five or so to an alarming thirty over the course of the last week.

“This means more complex investigations, a higher risk of transmission and it also means that precautions are clearly not being followed,” said Dr. Loh, according to CP24. “Now that we are seeing resurgence in our community, we need to fix this.”

This is potentially very troublesome in the light of the recent spike in the number of cases being reported daily. New daily cases in several provinces have now reached levels not seen previously since early May.

Dr. Loh stated that it’s important for Peel Region residents to continue to take social distancing and other guidelines seriously:

“It feels like we are so close to something better left unknown. So while we are working hard to hold the line we need your help to stop transmission in the first instance. Recent rollbacks on social gatherings, while disappointing for some, is a good start and I urge all of you to consider shrinking your bubbles even further to your immediate household, your family and your essential supports. Just because you can have 10 people over doesn’t mean you should.”

Ontario Premier Doug Ford has also weighed in on the issue, saying that we could be seeing the coming of a second wave of coronavirus, which could “come at us harder than the first one”.

Dr. Loh also mentioned that strategies targeting specific areas which are hot-spots for new transmissions of the virus could be necessary. He cited the transportation industry, for example, where people often have to travel and cross international borders as part of their job.