Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Tuesday:
Ontarians with at-risk conditions eligible for COVID-19 vaccine
People with at-risk conditions in Ontario will be eligible to book their COVID-19 vaccine appointment starting today.
The province says that includes people with dementia, diabetes and sickle cell disease.
Ontario pausing use of AstraZeneca vaccine due to safety, supply concerns
The Ontario government is pausing the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the province due to safety- and supply-related issues.
Dr. David Williams, Ontario’s chief medical officer of health, said the decision has been made out of an abundance of caution because of increased instances of an extremely rare and potentially fatal blood clotting disorder, vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT), linked to the shot.
“We are reviewing the data to consider options for the use of the AstraZeneca vaccine for second doses and more broadly moving forward,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon.
Williams said the decision was made, in part, because of an “increased and reliable” supply of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines and a continued downward trend in COVID-19 cases.
Ontario could reopen more outdoor spaces even with stay-at-home order, science table adviser says
Ontario could safely reopen many outdoor recreational facilities even if it extends a stay-at-home order next week, the province’s science advisers said Tuesday.
The scientific director of Ontario’s COVID-19 Science Advisory Table said outdoor activities like golf, tennis and beach volleyball are low-risk and with some additional instruction, the province could allow people to once again participate in the sports.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 2,073 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
Of those:
- 685 were in Toronto
- 389 were in Peel Region
- 231 were in York Region
- 144 were in Durham Region
- 84 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports more than 2,000 new COVID-19 cases, 15 deaths
Ontario is reporting 2,073 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The provincial total now stands at 497,092.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,342 as 15 more deaths were recorded.
Resolved cases increased by 2,898 from the previous day. The government said 28,109 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.
More than 6.3 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. That marks an increase of 112,103 vaccines in the last day. There are 396,787 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), and P.1 (first detected in Brazil).
The B.1.1.7 VOC is currently the dominating strain at 95,546 confirmed cases, which is up by 2,283 since the previous day. There have been 530 confirmed B.1.351 variant cases, which is up by 19, and 1,592 P.1 variant cases, which is up by 34.
Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes
According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,764 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which increased by two deaths since yesterday. Eleven virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.
There are 46 current outbreaks in homes, which is up by one from the previous day.
The ministry also indicated there are currently 69 active cases among long-term care residents and 161 active cases among staff — up by two and up by six, respectively, in the last day.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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