Ontario reports 255 new COVID-19 cases, lowest daily count and test positivity since September

Ontario is reporting 255 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, the smallest daily increase since mid-September. The provincial case total now stands at 543,019.

Wednesday’s case count is the third straight day it’s below 300 and the lowest since Sept. 15 when 251 cases were recorded that day. On Tuesday, there were 296 new cases with 270 on Monday.

Test positivity for Wednesday hit 1.2 per cent — the lowest test positivity since Sept. 29 when it was also at 1.2 per cent.

According to Wednesday’s report, 57 cases were recorded in Toronto, 53 new cases in Waterloo Region, 25 in Peel Region, and 23 in North Bay.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 20 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,093 as 11 more deaths were recorded.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, more than 13 million total COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered. That marked a record increase of 227,318 vaccines (28,946 for a first shot and 198,372 for a second shot) in the last day.

There are more than 3.3 million people fully vaccinated with two doses which is 27.5 per cent of the adult population. First dose adult coverage sits at 76.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 530,894 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 98 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 460 from the previous day.

There were more resolved cases than new cases on Wednesday.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 3,032 — down from the previous day when it was at 3,248, and is down from June 16 when it was at 4,662. At the peak of the second wave coronavirus surge in January, active cases hit just above 30,000. In the third wave in April, active cases topped 43,000.

The seven-day average has now reached 316, which is down from yesterday at 334, and is down from last week at 475. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 1,800.

The government said 27,364 tests were processed in the last 24 hours. There is currently a backlog of 11,986 tests awaiting results. A total of 15,753,058 tests have been completed since the start of the pandemic.

Ontario reported 295 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (down by 39 from the previous day) with 305 patients in intensive care units (down by nine) and 190 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down by 12). Overall, hospitalizations have been on the decline since the third wave peak in April.

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 (now named by WHO as “Alpha” and was first detected in the United Kingdom), B.1.351 (now named by WHO as “Beta” and was first detected in South Africa), P.1 (now named by WHO as “Gamma” and was first detected in Brazil), and B.1.617.2 (now named by WHO as “Delta” and was first detected in India).

“Alpha” the B.1.1.7 VOC: 142,647 variant cases, which is up by 254 since the previous day,

“Beta” the B.1.351 VOC: 1,154 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

“Gamma” the P.1 VOC: 4,263 variant cases which is up by seven since the previous day.

“Delta” B.1.617.2 VOC: 975 variant cases which is up by 59 since the previous day.

Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:

• 270,497 people are male — an increase of 141 cases.
• 268,670 people are female — an increase of 108 cases.
• 87,232 people are 19 and under — an increase of 45 cases.
• 203,459 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 122 cases.
• 155,051 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 64 cases.
• 72,179 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 24 cases.
• 24,995 people are 80 and over — an increase of two cases.
• The province notes that not all cases have a reported age or gender.

Here is a breakdown of the total deaths related to COVID-19 by age:

• Deaths reported in ages 19 and under: 4
• Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 81 (+1)
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 558
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 2,876 (+6)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,573 (+4)
• The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data corrections or updates can result in death records being removed.

Cases, deaths and outbreaks in Ontario long-term care homes

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,782 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario which is unchanged since yesterday. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 9 current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 16 active cases among long-term care residents 14 active cases among staff — down by three and down by two, respectively, in the last day.