Toronto's top doctor warns against holiday gatherings as COVID-19 hospitalizations climb

Toronto's top doctor says there can be no argument: COVID-19 continues to spread fast in Toronto and it remains a serious situation.

Dr. Eileen de Villa said there were 651 new cases in the city in the last day. Worse still, "the virus is sending more people to hospital."

Currently, there are 227 Torontonians in hospital and at least 57 are in intensive care units. 

With that, de Villa implored people to skip risky in-home festivities during the holiday season in order to protect frontline medical workers. "This year cannot be as usual," she said.

Emergency management head Matthew Pegg said the city continues to respond to public complaints about parties and businesses being open, but those complaints were down by nearly half last weekend.

Pegg said one bar or restaurant was found to be non-compliant and three other non-essential businesses were charged under the Reopening Ontario Act. 

Mayor John Tory meanwhile highlighted the city's work in hard-hit areas and encouraged people to shop local and order takeout at least once a week if they have the money during the holiday season.

Toronto remains in a lockdown, though so far that appears to have done little to cut down on the number of new cases. It's unclear when that lockdown will be lifted, de Villa said.

You can find a more detailed breakdown of cases via the city's dashboard.

For the latest on Ontario's situation, click here.