Coronavirus: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on March 5

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

The Ontario government has announced Toronto and Peel Region will be reentering the province’s COVID-19 response framework of restrictions at the grey lockdown level.

According to an update issued by the government on Friday, the change in restrictions comes into effect at 12:01 a.m. on March 8. The current stay-at-home order for Toronto and Peel Region will also be lifted.

“Toronto Public Health and Peel Public Health are also making progress, but as their case rates still remain high, they will return to the Framework at the Grey-Lockdown level,” the Ontario government said in a new release Friday afternoon.

Mayor John Tory is defending the move for Toronto to go into the grey lockdown zone amid calls from the public and businesses to move the city into the red zone on Friday.

“But the bottom line is that the red zone is generally at a threshold of 40 cases per 100,000. We’re at 72. Peel is at 100,” Tory said.

“Every jurisdiction in the world has found that a cautious reopening is the right way to go in order to avoid what I’ve been trying to avoid in making decisions about what’s right,” he continued.

“I really believe that if we move too quickly, we’ll be locked down again on the 1st of May, just as the patios are opening and we really are in spring.”

Ontario reported a total of 1,250 new coronavirus cases on Friday.

Of those:

• 337 were in Toronto
• 167 were in Peel Region
• 129 were in York Region
• 55 were in Durham Region
• 47 were in Halton Region

Ontario is reporting 1,250 new coronavirus cases on Friday, bringing the provincial total to 306,007.

The death toll in the province has risen to 7,046 as 22 more deaths were recorded.

Resolved cases increased by 1,159 from the previous day. The government said 64,748 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.

As of 8 p.m. yesterday, the province has administered 820,714 COVID-19 vaccine doses, representing an increase of 35,886 in the last day. There are 269,063 people fully vaccinated with two doses.

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,748 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is an increase of three from yesterday. Eleven virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 86 current outbreaks in homes, which is a decrease of eight from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 60 active cases among long-term care residents and 154 active cases among staff — down by two and down by nine, respectively, in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, government figures show there have been a total of 9,143 school-related COVID-19 cases in Ontario to date. This is an increase of 96 more cases in the last day — 82 student cases, 13 staff cases and one was not identified.

The COVID-19 cases are currently from 703 out of 4,828 schools in the province. Twenty-nine schools in Ontario are currently closed as a result of positive cases, the government indicated.

There have been a total of 2,787 confirmed cases within child care centres and homes — an increase of 24 (16 new child cases and eight staff cases). Out of 5,268 child care centres in Ontario, 150 currently have cases and 37 centres are closed.

— With files from The Canadian Press.

This is a developing story that will be updated throughout the day.