Ontario reports 454 new COVID-19 cases, 9 more deaths

Ontario is reporting 454 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, a daily count that is much higher than the same weekday of the previous two weeks. The provincial case total now stands at 604,606.

For comparison, last Wednesday saw 378 new cases and the previous Wednesday saw 321. All three Wednesday’s saw similar testing volumes in the 30,000 range.

Of the 454 new cases recorded, the data showed 211 were unvaccinated people, 11 were partially vaccinated people, 205 were fully vaccinated people and for 27 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Wednesday’s report, 43 cases were recorded in Ottawa, 42 in Toronto, 38 in Simcoe Muskoka, 34 in York Region, 33 in Peel Region, 29 in Sudbury, and 26 in Niagara. All other local public health units reported fewer than 25 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,912 as nine more deaths were recorded.

Vaccinations, recoveries, testing, 7-day average in Ontario

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, 15,257 vaccines (5,506 for a first shot and 9,751 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.

There are more than 11.1 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 85.1 per cent of the eligible (12 and older) population. First dose coverage stands at 88.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 590,641 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 98 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 414 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 4,053— up from the previous day when it was at 4,022, and is up from Nov. 3 when it was at 3,093. 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 503, which is up from the week prior when it was 379. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 500.

The government said 33,364 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 11,901 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 1.8 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 1.4 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 243 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (down by one from the previous day) with 136 patients in intensive care units (up by two) and 116 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up by one).

As of Tuesday, there were 14 patients from Saskatchewan in Ontario — all in ICUs, officials noted.

In the third wave peak, which was the worst wave for hospitalizations, the province saw as many as 900 patients in ICUs with COVID and almost 2,400 in general hospital wards.

For those in general hospital wards with COVID, 75 were unvaccinated, 12 were partially vaccinated and 61 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 55 were unvaccinated while 4 were partially vaccinated and 16 were fully vaccinated.

Provincial officials noted this new dataset with vaccination status for hospitalizations will grow and improve over time as more information is collected. There may also be a discrepancy due to how and when the information for both is collected.

Variants of concern in Ontario

Officials have listed breakdown data for the new VOCs (variants of concern) detected so far in the province which consists of:

Alpha: 146,513 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day. This strain dominated Ontario’s third wave.

Delta: 21,973 variant cases, which is up by 79 since the previous day. This strain is dominating Ontario’s fourth wave.

Beta: 1,503 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

Gamma: 5,231 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

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

• 302,226 people are male — an increase of 202 cases.
• 300,199 people are female — an increase of 233 cases.
• 17,378 people are under the age of four — an increase of 21 cases.
• 32,515 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 60 cases.
• 53,917 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 40 cases.
• 227,113 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 138 cases.
• 169,093 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 114 cases.
• 78,208 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 57 cases.
• 26,275 people are 80 and over — an increase of 23 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: Six
• Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 104
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 692 (+1)
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,244 (+1)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,868 (+10)
• The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data

READ MORE: Toronto catholic elementary school closed due to COVID-19 outbreak

Cases among students and staff at Ontario schools

Meanwhile, government figures show there are currently 497 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Wednesday, Ontario reported 119 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 102 among students, 10 among staff and seven individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon — a 24-hour period.

There are 999 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 961 active cases reported Friday.

Three schools are closed as a result of positive cases.

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

According to the Ontario Ministry of Long-Term Care, there have been 3,824 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which is unchanged since the previous day. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are 2 current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently no active cases among long-term care residents and 4 active cases among staff — down by two and down by one, respectively, in the last day.