About a week ago, one of Canada’s most-watched novel coronavirus charts — new infections in Ontario — started to head definitely, unmistakably, in the wrong direction.
Canada’s most populous province has endured one of the country’s stricter shutdowns, with schools now closed until September.
For much of May, it seemed to help tame the virus, with the line marching reassuringly downward. But recently, Ontario’s daily new cases have stayed above 400, with the curve showing no sign of the hoped-for flattening.
Ontario’s R number, the number of people who an infected person will, in turn, infect on average, has remained stubbornly over one, University of Toronto epidemiologist Ashleigh Tuite wrote in an email.