Coronavirus: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on Feb. 27

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

The Ontario government’s switch to a centralized procurement system stalled the replenishment of the province’s stockpile of personal protective equipment in the years leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, an independent commission heard this week.

Health Minister Christine Elliott told the commission examining the crisis’s impact on long-term care that the government expected its supply of PPE to be restocked, and that she was not aware at the time that the process had been held up by the change.

Ontario reported a total of 1,054 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday.

Of those:

• 331 were in Toronto
• 220 were in Peel Region
• 119 were in York Region
• 36 were in Durham Region
• 32 were in Halton Region

Ontario reported 1,185 cases of the novel coronavirus Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 299,754.

A total of 282,315 COVID-19 cases are considered resolved, which is up by 984 and is 94.2 per cent of all confirmed cases.

Sixteen additional deaths were also reported on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 6,960.

The province indicated that the positivity rate for the last day was 2.1 per cent, which is down from Friday’s report, when it was 2.3 per cent, and down from last Saturday’s report, when it was 2.2 per cent.

Provincial figures showed there are 680 people hospitalized with the virus (down by three), with 276 in intensive care (down by eight), 182 of whom are on a ventilator (down by 11).

As of Friday evening, 668,104 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in Ontario, marking an increase of 24,339 from the previous day.

So far, 260,972 people in the province are considered to be fully vaccinated.

3:01 Coronavirus: Experts and opposition push for clarity on Ontario’s vaccination plan

— With files from The Canadian Press