Coronavirus: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on Dec. 17

Here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Thursday:

11 people test positive for coronavirus after attending birthday party at Vaughan home: public health

York Region Public Health reports 11 out of 22 people who attended an indoor birthday party at a Vaughan home have tested positive for coronavirus.

According to a statement issued by officials on Thursday, the party happened on Dec. 6 — more than a week before the region went into the grey lockdown status in the provincial COVID-19 response framework from the red control status.

Of the 11 people who tested positive for the virus, the youngest is three years old and the oldest is 54. Nine of the 11 people who contracted the virus live in York Region and the other two live in Toronto.

“Of the 22 attendees, seven were identified as high-risk contacts and four are considered low-risk contacts with the remaining 11 attendees confirmed cases. Individuals were considered low risk if they dropped presents at the door and stayed outside, socially distanced from the porch,” the statement said.

At the time, there was a five-person cap on indoor gatherings under the red control status.

Officials said there haven’t been any school-related dismissals connected to the children who attended the party.

The homeowner was issued a ticket for violating provincial coronavirus-related orders and if convicted they will have to pay a fine of $880.

“This serves as a reminder how social gatherings, including birthday parties and holiday celebrations, may seem harmless but they have the potential to spread COVID-19 to children and vulnerable adults,” the statement said.

City of Toronto cancels holiday camps, winter programs due to COVID-19

City of Toronto said all planned holiday CampTO programs for the rest of 2020 will be cancelled as well as winter instructional programs such as Learn-to-Skate and Instructional Ski to prevent further spread of the virus.

Officials said holiday camps were set to run at 30 locations starting next week which had about 706 registered. Learn-to-skate had close to 441 registrations and 4,919 spaces for instructional ski.

The City said refunds will be made.

Status of cases in the GTA

Ontario reported a total of 2,432 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.

Of those:

• 777 were in Toronto
• 434 were in Peel Region
• 209 were in York Region
• 73 were in Durham Region
• 104 were in Halton Region

Ontario reports more than 2,400 new coronavirus cases setting another one-day record

Ontario reported 2,432 new cases of coronavirus on Thursday — marking a new single-day record to date for the second time this week — bringing the provincial total to 148,967.

The death toll in the province has risen to 4,058 as 23 more deaths were reported.

Resolved cases increased by 2,009 from the previous day. The government said 58,178 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.

Ontario hospitals call for 4-week lockdown in hard-hit regions to slow COVID-19 spread

The Ontario Hospital Association’s board of directors is making the request to the province after holding an emergency meeting to discuss hospital capacity issues amid surging infections.

It is asking the government to implement a four-week lockdown in every public health unit with an infection rate of 40/100,000 population or higher.

It says the move is necessary to protect people and ensure that hospitals do not face a surge in COVID-19 patients in January.

Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 2,446 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is an increase of four deaths.

There are 140 current outbreaks in homes, an increase of five from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 819 active cases among long-term care residents and 827 active cases among staff — up by 91 cases and up by 39 cases, respectively, in the last day.

Ontario child care centres and schools

Meanwhile, government figures show there have been a total of 7,016 school-related COVID-19 cases in Ontario — 4,884 among students and 1,037 among staff (1,095 individuals were not identified). This is an increase of 170 more cases over a 24-hour period.

The COVID-19 cases are currently from 955 out of 4,828 schools in the province. Twenty-two schools in Ontario are currently closed, the government indicated.

There have been a total of 1,188 confirmed cases within child care centres and homes — an increase of 29 (12 child cases and 17 staff cases.) Out of 5,251 child care centres in Ontario, 237 currently have cases and 53 centres are closed.

NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the day.

— With files from The Canadian Press.