Here are the latest developments on the COVID-19 pandemic in the Greater Toronto Area for Thursday:
Doug Ford pens letter asking doctors, experts whether Ontario schools should reopen
Ontario Premier Doug Ford issued a letter on Thursday asking for input from doctors and educators as to whether or not schools should reopen amid the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ford asked for responses to be submitted by Friday at 5 p.m. and attached seven questions.
Status of cases in the GTA
Ontario reported 1,135 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
Of those:
- 316 were in Toronto
- 271 were in Peel Region
- 75 were in York Region
- 25 were in Durham Region
- 46 were in Halton Region
Ontario reports more than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases, 19 deaths
Ontario is reporting 1,135 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. The provincial total now stands at 527,180.
The death toll in the province has risen to 8,697 as 19 more deaths were recorded.
Thursday’s case count is up slightly from Wednesday’s which saw 1,095 new infections but test positivity was at 3.6 per cent, the lowest seen since mid-March.
As of 8 p.m. on Wednesday, more than 8.5 million COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered. That marked an increase of 143,748 vaccines in the last day. There are 594,854 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 and is currently the dominating known strain), B.1.351 (first detected in South Africa), P.1 (first detected in Brazil).
The B.1.1.7 VOC: 122,349 variant cases, which is up by 1,227 since the previous day,
The B.1.351 VOC: 840 variant cases which is up by four since the previous day.
The P.1 VOC: 2,544 variant cases which is up by 39 since the previous day.
Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes
According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,773 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is up by two deaths since yesterday. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.
There are 37 current outbreaks in homes, which is down by four from the previous day.
The ministry also indicated there are currently 61 active cases among long-term care residents 119 active cases among staff — up by 12 and up by 24, respectively, in the last day.
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