Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Sunday:
Peel officer who hugged COVID-19 protesters, accused journalist of agitating attendees reinstated
A Peel Regional Police officer who was captured on video by Global News hugging demonstrators protesting COVID-19 restrictions and accused a journalist of agitating them has been reinstated, a spokesperson says.
The officer was suspended on April 16 after a protest was held outside Huf gym in Mississauga, which reopened despite COVID-19 restrictions.
Insp. Raj Biring told Global News Sunday morning the officer’s paid suspension was “lifted a few days ago.” He said a review is still underway by professional standards.
Charges laid after party in Toronto, police say
A Toronto police spokesperson says charges were laid after a party in the city early Sunday.
The spokesperson said officers were called to the area of Dufferin Street and Queen Street West after midnight for reports of a large gathering.
Charges were subsequently laid, the spokesperson said, but it’s not clear how many people were charged or what offences they are facing.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 3,947 new coronavirus cases on Sunday.
Of those:
- 1,136 were in Toronto
- 901 were in Peel Region
- 406 were in York Region
- 153 were in Halton Region
- 207 were in Durham Region
Ontario reports more than 3,900 new cases, 24 deaths
Ontario reported 3,947 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 445,351.
Twenty-four new deaths were also announced, bringing the provincial death toll to 7,911.
Provincial figures showed there are 2,126 people hospitalized with the virus (down by 151), with 851 in intensive care (up by 18 and marking a record), 596 of whom are on a ventilator (down by four).
However, the province noted that more than 10 per cent of hospitals did not submit their daily bed census for Sunday’s report — as is often the case on weekends — possibly causing the reported number of hospitalizations to be lower than it actually is.
More than 99K additional vaccines administered in Ontario
As of 8 p.m. Saturday, 4,626,903 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ontario, marking an increase of 99,535.
So far, 360,354 people in the province are considered to be fully vaccinated.
— With files from Nick Westoll