Ontario reports 1,607 new COVID-19 cases, 5 deaths

Ontario is reporting 1,607 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, bringing the total case count in the province to 630,671.

For comparison, last Saturday saw 1,053 cases and the previous Saturday saw 854 cases.

This marks the highest number of daily reported cases in nearly seven months.

The seven-day average has climbed to 1,194, a significant increase compared to last Saturday where the average was recorded at 895.

Five more deaths were recorded on Saturday, bringing the provincial death toll to 10,024.

The Ministry of Health reported that out of 1,607 reported cases, 623 were among those who are unvaccinated, 31 were among those who are partially vaccinated and 89 have an unknown vaccination status. The remaining 864 cases were reported among people who are fully vaccinated.

According to the latest provincial data, 247 cases were recorded in Toronto, 129 in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington, 123 in Ottawa, 103 in Peel Region, 99 in Simcoe Muskoka District, 99 in Windsor-Essex, 96 in York Region, 73 in Halton Region, 66 in Niagara Region, 56 in Durham Region and 53 in Waterloo Region.

All other public health units recorded under 50 cases.

The province has confirmed 48 cases of the Omicron variant, and local health units say they are investigating other possible cases.

The data recorded that 323 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (up by 14 from the previous day).

There are 146 patients in intensive care units due to COVID-19 (down by five from the previous day) and 94 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up by four from the previous day).

For those in general hospital wards with COVID, 166 were unvaccinated, 14 were partially vaccinated and 84 were fully vaccinated.

For those in ICUs, 68 were unvaccinated while 3 were partially vaccinated and 25 were fully vaccinated.

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Within the last 24 hours, 42,205 tests were completed. The data also reported 19,569 tests are under investigation.

Test positivity hit 4.6 per cent. This is an increase compared to last Saturday when the test positivity reached 3.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, the province also reported 786 cases were deemed resolved Saturday. A total of 610,592 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from the virus.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 10,009 — up from the previous day when it was at 9,193. 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 11.3 million people fully immunized with two doses. According to the latest data, 87.5 per cent of Ontarians age 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. At least 90.2  per cent have received at least one dose.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 28 per cent — 301,946 doses out of just over one million eligible children.

Over 83,500 doses were administered in the last 24 hours. More than 24.3 million doses have been administered since the rollout of vaccines began last year.-

— With files from The Canadian Press