Here are the latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Saturday.
Durham couple are Canada’s 1st known cases of coronavirus variant
Ontario has confirmed Canada’s first known cases of the UK coronavirus variant.
The province’s associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe made the announcement in a news release Saturday.
Officials said the cases involve a couple from Durham Region with no known travel history, exposure, or high-risk contacts. Both are now in self-isolation.
Ontario enters provincewide lockdown
A provincewide shutdown aimed at slowing the spread of COVID-19 took effect Saturday.
The restrictions are set to remain in place for southern areas of the province for four weeks, and northern areas for two weeks.
In the Greater Toronto Area, the shutdown caused the most changes in areas that were previously labelled “red zones” under the province’s color-coded coronavirus framework — Durham and Halton regions.
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Toronto, Peel Region and York Region were already under lockdown, which meant very similar restrictions compared to the shutdown orders.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported a total of 2,142 new cases on Saturday:
Of those:
- 541 were in Toronto
- 344 were in Peel Region
- 262 were in York Region
- 67 were in Durham Region
- 93 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports a total of 4,301 new coronavirus cases over past 2 days
Ontario has reported a total of 4,301 new cases of the novel coronavirus over the past two days, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections in the province to 169,411.
The province published two days’ worth of coronavirus data on Saturday morning. No numbers were released on Christmas Day on Friday.
There were 2,159 new cases on Friday and 2,142 new cases on Saturday.
Eighty-one additional deaths have been reported over the past two days — 43 on Friday and 38 on Saturday — raising the provincial death toll to 4,359.
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