Ontario reports 158 new COVID-19 cases, 4 more deaths

Ontario is reporting 158 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a slight increase from the day prior. The provincial case total now stands at 549,734.

On Tuesday, there were 129 new cases with 119 on Monday and 172 on Sunday.

According to Wednesday’s report, 25 cases were recorded in Toronto, 19 in York Region, 16 in Waterloo Region, 15 in Hamilton, 13 in Durham Region and 10 in Peel Region.

All other local public health units reported fewer than 10 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,325 as four more deaths were recorded.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, 94,116 vaccines (16,768 for a first shot and 77,348 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.

There are more than 8.7 million people fully immunized with two doses which is 67.3 per cent of the eligible (12+) population. First dose coverage stands at 80 per cent.

Meanwhile, 539,031 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 98 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 171 from the previous day.

There were more resolved cases than new cases on Wednesday.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 1,378 — down from the previous day when it was at 1,395, but is up from July 21 when it was at 1,334. 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 160 which is up from yesterday at 157, and is up from last week at 150. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 300.

The government said 20,527 tests were processed in the last 24 hours. There is currently a backlog of 8,121 tests awaiting results. A total of 16,511,028 tests have been completed since the start of the pandemic.

Test positivity for Tuesday hit 0.8 per cent. Last week, test positivity was also at 0.8 per cent.

Ontario reported 117 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 (down by eight from the previous day) with 122 patients in intensive care units (down by five) and 85 patients in ICUs on a ventilator (down by six).

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: 145,474 variant cases, which is up by 62 since the previous day,

“Beta” the B.1.351 VOC: 1,492 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

“Gamma” the P.1 VOC: 5,159 variant cases, which is up by 17 since the previous day.

“Delta” B.1.617.2 VOC: 4,044 variant cases, which is up by 123 since the previous day.

NOTE: It takes several days for positive COVID-19 tests to be re-examined for the exact variant. Therefore, there may be more variant cases than overall cases in daily reporting.

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

• 274,044 people are male — an increase of 87 cases.
• 272,020 people are female — an increase of 110 cases.
• 88,924 people are 19 and under — an increase of 50 cases.
• 205,912 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 57 cases.
• 156,657 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 35 cases.
• 72,942 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 13 cases.
• 25,204 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: 84
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 603
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 2,989 (+4)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,644
• The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data

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

According to the Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,791 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 5 current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 15 active cases among long-term care residents 4 active cases among staff — down by nine and down by four, respectively, in the last day.