Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Thursday:
York Region to release more than 13k vaccine appointments as supply issues plague province
York Region says it will be making over 13,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments available Friday, days after it announced the closure of some of its clinics due to supply issues.
In a press release Thursday, the region said beginning at 8:30 a.m., 13,500 appointments will be available for eligible residents in York.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 4,736 new coronavirus cases on Thursday.
Of those:
- 1,188 were in Toronto
- 983 were in Peel Region
- 526 were in York Region
- 216 were in Durham Region
- 140 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports record-breaking 4,736 new COVID-19 cases as total count surpasses 400,000
Ontario is reporting 4,736 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, a single-day high since the pandemic began. The provincial total now stands at 403,571, surpassing the 400,000 mark.
In the past seven days, five of those saw daily case numbers above 4,000. The most recent 100,000 new cases came from the last six weeks.
The death toll in the province has risen to 7,639 as 29 more deaths were recorded — the largest increase in deaths since mid-February and a third wave high.
Resolved cases increased by 3,174 from the previous day. The government said 65,559 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.
Ontario reported 1,932 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (up by 55 from the previous day) with an all-time high of 659 patients in intensive care units (up by 17) and 442 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (unchanged).
As of 8 p.m. on Wednesday, a total of 3,528,404 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. That marks an increase of 105,430 vaccines in the last day. There are 339,491 people fully vaccinated with two doses.
Variants of concern in Ontario
Officials have listed breakdown data for the new VOCs (variants of concern) detected so far in the province which consist of the B.1.1.7 (first detected in the United Kingdom), B.1.351 (first detected in South Africa), P.1 (first detected in Brazil), as well as mutations that have no determined lineage.
The B.1.1.7 VOC is currently the dominating known strain at 27,278 variant cases, which is up by 2,811 since the previous day, 95 B.1.351 variant cases which is up by 11, and 191 P.1 variant cases which is up by 15.
Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes
According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,755 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which did not increase from yesterday. Eleven virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.
There are 40 current outbreaks in homes, which is down by one from the previous day.
The ministry also indicated there are currently 22 active cases among long-term care residents and 121 active cases among staff — up by three and down by 10, respectively, in the last day.
NOTE: This page will be updated throughout the day.