TORONTO - Health experts advising the Ontario government say “aggressive” vaccination and maintaining a stay-at-home order will help the province avoid a third wave and another lockdown.

In new COVID-19 projections issued today, they say public health measures have cut COVID-19 case counts, hospitalizations and positivity rates across the province.

But they say variant strains of COVID-19 remain a serious concern and cases will likely grow again in late February, which will lead to more admissions to intensive care units. The experts say focusing vaccination efforts on long-term care homes has started to pay off, with a declining number of daily deaths in the facilities.

However, the number of deaths in nursing homes in the second wave of the pandemic has now drawn nearly even with the number of deaths in the facilities from the first wave.

The data comes as the province began a gradual reopening of its economy this week by lifting a stay-at-home order for three regions with low cases.