COVID-19: Latest developments in the Greater Toronto Area on May 15

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

Officials say nearly 50 vaccination clinics are operating in Toronto this weekend as the City, its health-care partners and pharmacies continue to work to get as many residents vaccinated as possible.

Included in this weekend’s efforts are a series of pop-up clinics that will be vaccinating nearly 20,000 people aged 18 and older.

To date, a total of 1,649,278 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in the city.

Road closures are in place again this weekend in Toronto for ActiveTO.

Affected roads include:

• The eastbound lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard West between Windemere Avenue and Stadium Road
• The eastbound lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard East between Leslie Street and Woodbine Avenue
• Bayview Avenue between Front Street East and Rosedale Valley Road, and
• River Street between Bayview and Spruce Street

The closures came into effect Saturday at 6 a.m. and will be in place until 9 p.m. Sunday.

ActiveTO was first introduced last year in a bid to give more opportunities for people to move around with safe distancing amid the pandemic on weekends and holidays.

Ontario golfers have been pushing the province to reopen courses forced to close while the province is under a stay-at-home order, but some observers say access to outdoor recreational facilities serving a wider population should be just as high on the agenda.

Doctors and recreational facility administrators say Canadians need access to affordable, inclusive and local ways to get outside and exercise, so long as health care professionals deem it safe.

2:29 Calls continue for Ontario government to lift COVID-19 restrictions on outdoor amenities

Ontario reported 2,584 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

Of those:

• 689 were in Toronto
• 584 were in Peel Region
• 252 were in York Region
• 157 were in Durham Region
• 91 were in Halton Region

Ontario’s report of 2,584 COVID-19 cases on Saturday brings the total number of cases in the province to 507,117.

For comparison, 2,864 cases were reported last Saturday.

Twenty-four new deaths were also announced on May 15, bringing the provincial death toll to 8,455.

Provincial figures showed there are 1,546 people hospitalized with the virus (down by 36), with 785 in intensive care due to COVID-19 (up by eight), 560 of whom are on a ventilator (no change).

As of Friday evening, 6,925,232 COVID-19 vaccine doses had been administered in Ontario, marking an increase of a record 154,104 over 24 hours.

So far, 422,960 people in the province are considered to be fully vaccinated.

–With files from The Canadian Press