Peel Region’s COVID-19 pandemic turnaround at a crossroads

Cases down, positivity rates dropping, and vaccination numbers way up. The turnaround in Peel: from hot spot to hopeful in a matter of weeks. But as Shauna Hunt reports, there's one factor that could stall progress.

By Shauna Hunt and Jessica Bruno

Health experts and community leaders say a pandemic turnaround is taking place in Peel Region. In stark contrast to just weeks ago, COVID-19 cases are down, positivity rates are dropping, and vaccination are numbers way up. But there’s one factor that could stall progress.

“Vaccines pave the way to getting back to normal,” says Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown. “So when you see numbers like this it’s no wonder you are seeing case counts declining so rapidly.”

Peel hit a milestone Wednesday with 70 per cent of eligible residents receiving their first shot. But this comes with a caveat, as significantly less vaccine supply is now being allocated to the hotspot.

“The province’s hotspot allocation has worked,” said Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s Medical Officer of Health. “That capacity delivered a record 170,000 doses in a single week, last week.”

Just one month ago, Peel Region was on fire, hitting a record of 1,232 daily cases. Brampton had a test positivity rate of 22 per cent and hundreds of COVID-19 local patients were being transferred to hospitals across the province.

Now, seven weeks into the stay-at-home order, results are being felt across the board. Peel reported 215 cases Wednesday, a number that hasn’t been seen since March.


RELATED: Ontario reports nearly 1,100 new COVID-19 cases, 23 deaths


Hospitalizations are stabilizing, and the test positivity rate has fallen to 12 per cent, which is still higher than the provincial average of 5.3 per cent but a significant drop. Another number that paints a positive picture, one million vaccine doses have now been administered in the region.

“A focus on the hotspots allowed us to get the situation under control,” Brown said.

At her afternoon briefing, Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie added that the aggressive strategy has caused case counts to plummet rapidly over the last few weeks.

“Peel Region is now averaging 177 cases per 100,000, and that’s down from 232 cases per 100,000 a week ago,” she said. “We have gained huge momentum and we can’t take the foot off the gas now.”

For the first two weeks of May, hotspots like Peel and Toronto received 50 per cent of the province’s vaccine supply.

“It meant that we could open up vaccines to everyone 18+ and begin offering it to youth 12 to 17,” Crombie said. “It meant that we could get so many of our essential workers vaccinated.”

The provincial government is now sharing more supply with other public health units across Ontario, a measure Crombie says she understands.

But she is still calling on the province to consider doing more in the future for hotspot areas, noting that Peel still accounts for about 23 per cent of the province’s infections, with just 10.6 per cent of the population.

“I am hoping and strongly encouraging the province to again prioritize hotspot regions in the future, in future allocations in the coming weeks and months, especially as we look towards second doses,” she said.

In Mississauga, Crombie said the city will shift to focusing on the most vulnerable, through community outreach, mobile and primary care clinics. Brown adds clinics in Peel will be scaling back appointments.

“We are now receiving, for the next number of weeks, below our per-capita allocation which puts a strain on Peel Public Health, but we are looking at efforts to mitigate those decreasing supply numbers,” said Brown.

Still, Peel is moving forward with its vaccine roll out, working with Bruce Power to open Ontario’s largest vaccination hub at Brampton’s CAA Centre. The location will focus on vaccinating children between the ages of 12 and 17.

Loh is calling on the province to remain flexible with supply allocation and to continue prioritizing hot spots. He also says it’s time to start offering second doses, and he’s looking to the Ford government for a clear that follows the Ontario COVID-19 Science Advisory Table’s recommendations.

“Moving quickly with second doses in Peel and other hotspots will seal the deal and accelerate our return to a new normal with confidence, not only here but across Ontario,” he said.

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