Ontario reports over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row

Ontario is reporting 1,053 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total case count in the province to 622,313.

This is an increase from Friday when Ontario hit 1,031 new COVID-19 cases — the first time the count has surpassed 1,000 in six months.

For comparison, last Saturday saw 854 cases and the previous Saturday saw 728 cases.

The seven-day average has climbed to 895 compared to last Saturday where the average was recorded at 729.

Eight more deaths were recorded on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 10,024. However, one death had occurred more than one month ago and was added to the data as part of a data clean-up.

The Ministry of Health reported that out of 1,053 reported cases, 469 were among those who are unvaccinated, 25 were among those who are partially vaccinated and 60 have an unknown vaccination status. The remaining 499 cases were reported among people who are fully vaccinated.

According to the latest provincial data, 139 cases were recorded in Toronto, 101 cases were recorded in Simcoe Muskoka District, 69 in Ottawa, 59 in Peel Region, 54 in Windsor-Essex, 54 in York Region and 50 in Sudbury and Districts. All other public health units recorded under 50 cases.

The data recorded that 284 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (down by two from the previous day).

There are 160 patients in intensive care units due to COVID-19 (up by 14 from the previous day), and 98 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up by six from the previous day).

For those in general hospital wards with COVID, 90 were unvaccinated, 12 were partially vaccinated and 64 were fully vaccinated.

For those in ICUs, 65 were unvaccinated while 4 were partially vaccinated and 24 were fully vaccinated.

2:01 COVID-19: Toronto athlete contracts Omicron variant in South Africa

• COVID-19: Toronto athlete contracts Omicron variant in South Africa
• The latest on what’s known about the Omicron COVID-19 variant
• NACI issues new guidance on COVID-19 booster shots
• Ontario expanding COVID-19 booster shots to more groups
• COVID-19: Durham Region detects its 1st Omicron variant case
• COVID-19: Ontario to make single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine available, Moore says
• Ontario expected to announce expansion of COVID-19 booster eligibility

Previous Video

Next Video

Within the last 24 hours, 36,268 tests were completed. The data also reported 14,863 tests are under investigation.

Test positivity hit 3.5 per cent. This is an increase compared to last Saturday when the test positivity reached 3 per cent.

Meanwhile, the province also reported 722 cases were deemed resolved Saturday. A total of 604,749 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from the virus.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 7,540  — up from the previous day when it was at 7,217. 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.

There are more than 11.2 million people fully immunized with two doses. According to the latest data, 87.3 per cent of Ontarians age 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. At least 90  per cent have received at least one dose.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 16.6 per cent — 179,031 doses out of just over one million eligible children — since shots went into arms last week.

Over 80,000 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. More than 23.9 million doses have been administered since the rollout of vaccines began last year.