Ontario is reporting 748 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, as the counts continue to rise week over week. The provincial case total now stands at 614,270.
For comparison, last Thursday saw 711 new cases and the previous Thursday saw 642. All three Thursday’s saw similar testing volumes in the 30,000 range.
Of the 748 new cases recorded, the data showed 356 were unvaccinated people, 19 were partially vaccinated people, 329 were fully vaccinated people and for 44 people the vaccination status was unknown.
According to Thursday’s report, 77 cases were recorded in Toronto, 57 in Windsor-Essex, 55 in Simcoe Muskoka, 48 in Peel Region, 45 in Ottawa and 43 in York Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 40 new cases in the provincial report.
The death toll in the province has risen to 9,985 as four more deaths were reported.
Vaccinations, recoveries, testing, 7-day average in Ontario
As of 8 p.m. on Wednesday, 12,566 vaccines (5,033 for a first shot and 7,533 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.
There are more than 11.2 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 86.1 per cent of the eligible (12 and older) population. First dose coverage stands at 89.1 per cent.
Meanwhile, 598,733 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is around 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 599 from the previous day.
Active cases in Ontario now stand at 5,552 — up from the previous day when it was at 5,407, and is up from Nov. 18 when it was at 4,872. 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 692, which is up from the week prior when it was 597. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 350.
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The government said 33,932 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 15,435 tests currently under investigation.
Test positivity hit 2.6 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 2 per cent.
Hospitalizations in Ontario
Ontario reported 259 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (down by 38 from the previous day) with 137 patients in intensive care units (unchanged) and 117 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (down by one).
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, 98 were unvaccinated, 5 were partially vaccinated and 45 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 63 were unvaccinated while 2 were partially vaccinated and 10 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.
Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:
- 307,061 people are male — an increase of 369 cases.
- 305,044 people are female — an increase of 384 cases.
- 17,830 people are under the age of four — an increase of 39 cases.
- 34,194 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 136 cases.
- 54,624 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 47 cases.
- 229,928 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 226 cases.
- 171,578 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 189 cases.
- 79,471 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 96 cases.
- 26,538 people are 80 and over — an increase of 14 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: Seven
- Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 106
- Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 694
- Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,282
- Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,895
- The province notes there may be a reporting delay for deaths and data
Cases among students and staff at Ontario schools
Meanwhile, government figures show there are currently 694 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.
On Thursday, Ontario reported 154 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 137 among students, 15 among staff and two individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon — a 24 hour period.
There are 1,489 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 1,397 active cases reported the previous day.
Sixteen 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 four current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.
The ministry also indicated there are currently three active cases among long-term care residents and 9 active cases among staff — both unchanged in the last day.
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