Toronto city council’s board of health provided an update on the city’s status amid the COVID-19 pandemic this month. 

Medical officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa led a presentation for the committee that held a hybrid meeting.

To prepare for a potential seventh wave of the pandemic this fall, and to continue the downward trend of positive cases, de Villa said there are several short term goals the city can achieve to help residents navigate through the period. 

She is hoping the city can avoid lockdowns or any additional capacity restrictions similar to December 2021, January 2022 and the early portions of the pandemic. 

After the city eased restrictions in phase 2 and 3 of the reopening plan in summer 2021, lockdown measures were reintroduced with the onset of the Omicron variant. This led to a large campaign from the city to remove age restrictions for booster vaccine shots. 

Masking and several other restrictions were dropped by the city in June to correlate with all of Ontario: healthcare facilities and other sectors under federal laws still require masking.  

Several considerations include promoting the benefits of vaccinations against COVID, and addressing areas that require rebuilding - this includes dealing with mental health concerns brought forth by the pandemic and repairing public health functions and timeliness for those requiring care. 

Further updates that will be addressed in a future meeting include Toronto’s overdose prevention responses and mental health and addictions strategy for the summer and fall months. 

More details to come.