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Premier Doug Ford and Health Minister Sylvia Jones are scheduled to hold a news conference in Toronto Thursday morning.
You can watch it live on this story starting around 10 am ET. in the player above.
The government did not say what the announcement was about. But it comes as many hospitals continue to struggle with high numbers of patients — particularly children — seeking care for illnesses such as the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (more commonly known as RSV) and COVID- 19.
Across all age groups, the number of people going to hospital emergency departments with respiratory complaints was higher than the pre-pandemic seasonal average for this time of year, according to the Acute Care Enhanced Surveillance (ACES ) of Ontario. database.
The database tracks daily visits and admissions for respiratory diseases, covering every major hospital in the province.
Rates of children and adolescents presenting to hospitals with respiratory symptoms have continued to decline since peaks in early November, though still remain well above the historical average. A number of pediatric hospitals in Ontario recently announced they would be scaling back operations and deploying staff to help relieve overburdened intensive care units and emergency rooms.
The burden on hospitals is exacerbated by ongoing widespread staff shortages. Health care professionals say those shortages are in part caused by the exit of nurses burned out after several years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Toronto, positive test rates are now in the double digits for the flu, prompting Medical Health Officer Dr. Eileen de Villa made a new call for those who can get their annual vaccine.
Nurses’ wages were capped by Bill 124 of the Ford government. On Tuesday, an Ontario Superior Court judge ruled the law unconstitutional. The government said it plans to appeal the decision.
This morning will also be the first time in weeks that Ford has taken questions from the media as his government faces backlash over several other controversial measures, including new housing legislation and proposed changes to The Greenbelt Act .
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