Coronavirus: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on Jan. 28

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

U.K. COVID-19 variant case confirmed at Toronto hospital

A Toronto hospital says it has a confirmed case of the U.K. COVID-19 variant on Thursday.

“Earlier this month, a patient was re-admitted to Baycrest Hospital. The patient began to show symptoms of illness on the day of admission and was immediately placed on Special Droplet/Contact Precautions and tested for COVID-19,” a statement from the hospital read.

The patient was taken to a unit designated for COVID-19 people, the hospital said and after a week, the patient was then taken back out to an acute care hospital. The hospital said during the stay at the acute care hospital, it was discovered the patient had the U.K. variant.

“As a result, we are working with our regional partners, Public Health Ontario Labs and Toronto Public Health to expedite expanded surveillance testing,” the statement continued.

The patient was at the hospital from Jan. 7 to Jan. 14.

Ontario government extends off-peak electricity rate cap by nearly 2 weeks

Hours before the Ontario government‘s temporary off-peak electricity rate cap was set to end, officials announced Wednesday evening that the program was being extended by nearly two weeks.

The measure, which meant the off-peak rate of 8.5 cents per kilowatt-hour would be in effect at all hours and all days of the week, was set to expire on Thursday.

According to the announcement, it will be in place until Feb. 9.

Status of cases in the GTA

Ontario reported a total of 2,093 new cases on Thursday.

Of those:

• 700 were in Toronto
• 331 were in Peel Region
• 228 were in York Region
• 85 were in Durham Region
• 64 were in Halton Region

Canada’s Wonderland looking to open on May 14 pending government regulations

The operators of Canada’s Wonderland say they’re hoping to reopen the attraction on May 14 pending government regulations in the future.

“We continue to monitor provincial guidelines and work with industry and government officials to ensure our reopening plan meets all required health and safety regulations. Further details will be announced this spring,” spokesperson Grace Peacock said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

The park proposed reopening with a limited capacity and other measures such as a mandatory face covering policy for visitors two years old and higher, health screenings, entry by booking only, use of a mobile app and hand santizer stations and enabling location services on phones to allow alerts to be sent.

When contacted by Global News for reaction to the announcement, a spokesperson for York Region spokesperson didn’t comment specifically on the plan and said the pandemic continues “to evolve rapidly.” The spokesperson said while there has been a recent decline in cases, “we are also seeing new developments in areas such as variant cases.”

Ontario reports nearly 2,100 new coronavirus cases, death toll surpasses 6,000

Ontario is reporting 2,093 new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, bringing the provincial total to 262,463.

The death toll in the province has risen to 6,014 — surpassing the 6,000 mark — after 56 more deaths were reported.

Resolved cases increased by 2,491 from the previous day. The government said 64,664 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.

Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,462 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is an increase of 34 deaths. Eleven virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 229 current outbreaks in homes, which is a decrease of nine from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 1,041 active cases among long-term care residents and 938 active cases among staff — up by two cases and down by 36 cases, respectively, in the last day.

NOTE: This story will be updated throughout the day.