COVID-19: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on April 23

Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Friday:

Toronto Mayor John Tory announced Friday morning that the city has surpassed administering more than a million vaccine doses.

Tory said more than 26,000 were given Thursday, giving the city a total of 1,004,339.

Toronto and Peel Region could begin to order the temporary closure of some businesses to control workplace COVID-19 outbreaks.

The orders from the top doctors in both regions were expected to come into effect Friday, a measure they both said was designed to protect tens of thousands of essential workers from the virus.

The painted circles the City used to promote social distancing will return to Toronto’s Trinity Bellwoods Park this spring.

Installation of the circles will begin next week, dependent on weather, as the paint needs sunny and warm temperatures to ensure proper curation.

Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table says redirecting more vaccines to hot spots in the province will help to reduce case counts, hospitalizations and deaths.

A report released by the group on Friday said a “hot spot-accelerated vaccination strategy” would consist of allocating 50 per cent of vaccines to the top 74 hot spots in the province, and allocating the remaining 50 per cent equally across the entire province.

Public Health Ontario says 36 B.1.617 variant cases, the so-called “double mutant” variant of COVID-19 first detected in India, have been confirmed across the province.

In a statement to Global News Friday evening, the agency said six cases were detected through its genomics surveillance program.

It went on to say 30 cases were found through Ontario’s COVID-19 screening program at airport and land border crossings and subsequently confirmed through the national microbiology lab in Winnipeg.

Ontario says pregnant women have been moved to the “highest risk” category on the province’s COVID-19 vaccine priority list and can book an appointment as of Friday.

Pregnant women were previously in the “high risk” category in Phase 2 of Ontario’s vaccine priority list, which would have put them at the end of the phase in May or even later.

1:52 Pregnant women in Ontario now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine, but some say it’s too late

Ontario won’t be lowering the age threshold required to receive the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine currently despite a new recommendation Friday from the National Advisory Committee on Immunization (NACI).

A spokesperson for Health Minister Christine Elliott said though NACI now recommends that the vaccine be given to those 30 years of age and older, limited supply means that, for the time being, the shot will continue to be given to those aged 40-plus.

0:57 NACI recommends AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for Canadians 30+

Following the publication of a Global News report, Hamilton Public Health Services has confirmed the second instance of a man in his 60s who developed a blood clot after receiving his first dose of the AstraZeneca-Covishield COVID-19 vaccine.

“We are confirming that Hamilton has Ontario’s second case of the rare blood clotting condition known as vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) … The patient has received treatment and continues to receive care in hospital,” Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton’s medical officer of health, told Global News in a statement Friday evening.

An increase in the number of COVID-19 patients dying unexpectedly at home without having called for an ambulance is a troubling new trend that needs further investigation, Ontario’s chief coroner said on Friday.

Why exactly patients who don’t appear to be seriously ill are suddenly taking a drastic turn for the worse has yet to be determined, Dirk Huyer said in an interview.

1:58 Doctors calling for more targeted distribution of COVID-19 vaccines in Ontario

Ontario reported 4,505 new COVID-19 cases on Friday. The provincial total now stands at 437,310.

Friday’s case count has jumped back over 4,000 after Thursday recorded 3,682 new infections. On Wednesday, 4,212 new cases were recorded.

The death toll in the province has risen to 7,863 as 34 more deaths were reported.

Ontario reported 4,505 new coronavirus cases on Friday.

Of those:

• 1,257 were in Toronto
• 1,232 were in Peel Region
• 412 were in York Region
• 144 were in Halton Region
• 224 were in Durham Region

As of 8 p.m. Thursday, Ontario had administered a total of 4,400,674 COVID-19 vaccine doses, marking a one-day increase of 133,872.

So far, 355,208 people in the province are considered to be fully vaccinated.

—With files from The Canadian Press

1:50 A Toronto man’s call to return home amid India’s devastating COVID-19 surge