Ontario reports 1,009 new COVID-19 cases, 8 more deaths

Ontario is reporting 1,009 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, as case counts continue to rise week over week. The provincial case total now stands at 626,321.

For comparison, last Wednesday saw 780 new cases and the previous Wednesday saw 591. Over the last three days there were 928 new cases reported Tuesday, 887 on Monday and 1,184 on Sunday. The seven-day average has now surpassed 1,000 for the first time since June 1.

Of the 1,009 new cases recorded, the data showed 421 were unvaccinated people, 22 were partially vaccinated people, 502 were fully vaccinated people and for 64 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Tuesday’s report, 124 cases were recorded in Toronto, 92 in Ottawa, 82 in Simcoe Muskoka, 75 in Windsor-Essex, 69 in the Kingston area, and 50 each in Hamilton and in York Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 50 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,044 as eight more deaths were reported.

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

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, there are more than 11.3 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 87.4 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 90.1 per cent. There are 914,723 Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 23.6 per cent — 254,760 doses out of just over 1 million eligible children.

Meanwhile, 607,926 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 1,129 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 8,351— down from the previous day when it was at 8,479, but is up from Dec. 1 when it was at 6,750. 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 1,007, which is up from the week prior when it was 821. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 500.

The government said 38,502 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 19,212 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 3.3 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 3.1 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 333 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (down by seven from the previous day) with 155 patients in intensive care units (down by 10) and 135 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (down by nine).

Ontario Health officials have recently said intensive care occupancy can hit between 250 or 300 patients before the health care system would be impacted and require ramping down some non-urgent surgeries and procedures.

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, 99 were unvaccinated, 22 were partially vaccinated and 75 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 69 were unvaccinated while 15 were partially vaccinated and 24 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:

• 313,077 people are male — an increase of 505 cases.
• 311,018 people are female — an increase of 504 cases.
• 18,480 people are under the age of four — an increase of 32 cases.
• 36,505 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 176  cases.
• 55,536 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 85 cases.
• 233,400 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 308 cases.
• 174,560 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 275 cases.
• 80,977 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 120 cases.
• 26,756 people are 80 and over — an increase of 15 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: 107
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 706
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,309
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,914
• 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 860 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Wednesday, Ontario reported 252 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 219 among students, 25 among staff and eight individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon — a 24-hour period.

There are 2,016 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 1,947 active cases reported the previous day.

Ten 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 3,828 deaths reported among residents and patients in long-term care homes across Ontario, which is an increase of one death since the previous day. Thirteen virus-related deaths in total have been reported among staff.

There are seven 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 and 26 active cases among staff — up by two and up by three, respectively, in the last day.