Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Wednesday:
TDSB planning quadmester model for high school students in 2021-22 school year
The Toronto District School Board says it is planning a quadmester model for the 2021-22 school year for secondary students.
In a letter sent to parents and teachers on Wednesday, the TDSB said the model “allows us to best support students and maintain the necessary health and safety practices” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nearly 255K doses of AstraZeneca to arrive in Ontario next week, to be used as 2nd shots
The Ontario government says 254,500 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be delivered to Ontario the week of May 17.
Officials said Wednesday the AstraZeneca doses will be used as second shots, though a timeline for use wasn’t immediately clear.
AstraZeneca was primarily administered in Ontario pharmacies. The government did not elaborate on booking details for the second shot.
‘We wanted to limit mobility’: Doug Ford defends outdoor amenity closures despite science table advice
Ontario Premier Doug Ford defended his government’s closure of outdoor amenities during question period at Queen’s Park on Wednesday, despite advice from some of his own advisers who say that they should be open.
In response to a question from the Opposition challenging the closures, Ford said the goal behind ordering outdoor amenities like golf courses and tennis courts to close is limiting mobility in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19.
“I have a great deal of respect for the health table and the science table,” Ford said.
“We did receive a couple of messages there to limit mobility, so we wanted to limit mobility.”
Audit flags issues with tracking Ontario pandemic pay program, other COVID-19 expenses
An audit out Wednesday has found the Ontario government failed to track properly $4.4 billion in COVID-19 relief spending.
Among other things, the audit found no tracking of when front-line workers received pandemic pay.
The audit also found the program had weak processes to verify funds went to eligible people.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 2,320 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday:
Of those:
- 712 were in Toronto
- 452 were in Peel Region
- 157 were in York Region
- 139 were in Durham Region
- 78 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports more than 2,300 new COVID-19 cases, 32 deaths
Ontario is reporting 2,320 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday. The provincial total now stands at 499,412.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,374 as 32 more deaths were recorded.
Resolved cases increased by 3,477 from the previous day. The government said 45,681 tests were processed in the last 24 hours.
Nearly 6.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered. That marks an increase of 140,785 vaccines in the last day. There are 402,258 people fully vaccinated in the province.
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 98,495 confirmed cases, which is up by 2,949 since the previous day. There have been 568 confirmed B.1.351 variant cases, which is up by 38, and 1,683 P.1 variant cases, which is up by 91.
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 is unchanged. Eleven virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.
There are 43 current outbreaks in homes, which is down by three from the previous day.
The ministry also indicated there are currently 65 active cases among long-term care residents and 167 active cases among staff — down by four for both in the last day.
— With files from The Canadian Press
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