Ontario reports 1,453 new COVID cases, 11 more deaths

Ontario is reporting 1,453 new COVID cases on Friday, the highest daily count since the end of May. The provincial case total now stands at 629,064.

For comparison, last Friday saw 1,031 new cases and the previous Friday saw 927. Over the last three days, there were 1,290 new cases reported Thursday, 1,009 on Wednesday and 928 on Tuesday.

However, as infections rise, patients with COVID in ICUs (intensive care units) are down from the previous day and have remained relatively stable.

Of the 1,453 new cases recorded, the data showed 613 were unvaccinated people, 26 were partially vaccinated people, 718 were fully vaccinated people and for 96 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Friday’s report, 195 cases were recorded in Toronto, 109 in Ottawa, 95 in the Kingston area, 91 in York Region, 89 each in Windsor-Essex and Peel Region, 73 in Simcoe Muskoka, and 68 in Halton. All other local public health units reported fewer than 65 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,064 as 11 more deaths were reported.

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

As of 8 p.m. on Thursday, there are more than 11.3 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 87.5 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 90.2 per cent. There are 1,019,023 Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 26.4 per cent — 284,834 doses out of just over 1 million eligible children.

Meanwhile, 609,806 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 910 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 9,193 — up from the previous day when it was at 8,661, and is up from Dec. 3 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.

The seven-day average has now reached 1,115, a months-long high since late May as Ontario emerged from a devastating third wave. It is up from the week prior when it was 866. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 500.

The government said 39,941 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 25,644 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 4.4 per cent — the highest seen since late May. Last week, test positivity was at 2.9 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 309 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (unchanged from the previous day) with 151 patients in intensive care units (down by four) and 130 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (down by five).

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, 103 were unvaccinated, 11 were partially vaccinated and 75 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 69 were unvaccinated while 5 were partially vaccinated and 29 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:

• 314,461 people are male — an increase of 735 cases.
• 312,377 people are female — an increase of 716 cases.
• 18,586 people are under the age of four — an increase of 62 cases.
• 37,028 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 293 cases.
• 55,799 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 152 cases.
• 234,263 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 455 cases.
• 175,216 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 338 cases.
• 81,265 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 138 cases.
• 26,801 people are 80 and over — an increase of 18 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: 108
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 710
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,318
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,921
• 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 906 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Friday, Ontario reported 198 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 174 among students, 17 among staff and 7 individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Wednesday afternoon and Thursday afternoon — a 24-hour period.

There are 2,156 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 2,098 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 3,828 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 eight current outbreaks in homes, which is an increase of one from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 18 active cases among long-term care residents and 28 active cases among staff — up by two and unchanged, respectively, in the last day.