These maps show Toronto’s current COVID-19 hot spots are not where you think they are.
A new map designed by the Toronto Public Library shows a number of areas that have experienced a spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks — but are not where one might expect.
Toronto’s COVID-19 cases currently stand at 12,350 with 579 deaths. That’s down from 17,957 with 1,037 deaths a week ago.
The city’s hot spots are located on the “frontlines” of the pandemic, and are not where one might expect them to be, as TPL’s new map (below) may show.
The first and most obvious hot spot are the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus, which has experienced a large influx of students since the school closed on March 13.
University of Toronto Scarborough Campus – hot spot map
But there are many fewer actual COVID-19 cases at the nearby York University, while the rest of the area surrounding the campus is “quiet,” meaning it isn’t the centre of the disease.
York University Hot Spot Map
Just over the University of Toronto’s Scarborough campus runs a strip of roads and shops, which is home to the popular Scarborough Centre shopping mall with its large food court. But the mall has been a hot-spot for COVID-19 cases.
York University Hot Spot Map
There are also a number of other areas around the downtown core that have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases. These include the Eaton Centre (1,974 cases) and the Scotia Square neighbourhood (1,895), both home to big box stores and many restaurants and other businesses.
But the one area that has not seen an increase in COVID-19 cases is downtown, where the University of Toronto’s Kensington neighbourhood remains largely unaffected by the pandemic, despite reporting 755 COVID-19 cases.
University of Toronto Kensington Neighborhood – hot spot map
While most of Toronto has not seen an increase in COVID-19 cases, the city’s hot spots are important to focus on and understand, as it will help determine when we can expect to
