Ontario reports more than 1,800 new COVID cases as daily counts continue to surge

Ontario is reporting 1,808 new COVID cases on Wednesday, the highest one-day total since May as counts continue to rise. The provincial case total now stands at 636,920.

For comparison, last Wednesday saw 1,009 new cases and the previous Wednesday saw 780. Over the last three days, there were 1,429 new cases reported Tuesday, 1,536 on Monday and 1,476 on Sunday. Wednesday’s count is largest increase since May 21 when 1,890 new cases were recorded.

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

Of the 1,808 new cases recorded, the data showed 625 were unvaccinated people, 39 were partially vaccinated people, 1,046 were fully vaccinated people and for 98 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Wednesday’s report, 343 cases were recorded in Toronto, 149 in York Region, 134 in the Kingston-area, 132 in Peel Region, 117 in Ottawa, 114 in Simcoe Muskoka, and 112 in Halton Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 100 new cases in the provincial report.

Deaths, vaccinations, recoveries, testing, 7-day average in Ontario

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,093 as nine more deaths were reported.

As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, there are more than 11.3 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 87.7 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 90.3 per cent. There are 1,322,001 Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 32.3 per cent — 348,774 doses out of just over 1 million eligible children.

Meanwhile, 614,161 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is 96 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 1,165 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 12,666 — up from the previous day when it was at 12,032, and is up from Dec. 8 when it was at 8,351. 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 1,514, a months-long high since late May as Ontario emerged from a devastating third wave. This is up from the week prior when it was 1,007. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 600.

The government said 44,726 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 28,940 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 6 per cent. Last week, test positivity was at 3.3 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 357 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (down by 28 from the previous day) with 154 patients in intensive care units (down by 8) and 136 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (down by 7).

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, 119 were unvaccinated, 11 were partially vaccinated and 84 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 78 were unvaccinated while 3 were partially vaccinated and 30 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:

• 318,393 people are male — an increase of 928 cases.
• 316,257 people are female — an increase of 882 cases.
• 18,929 people are under the age of four — an increase of 78 cases.
• 38,428 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 292 cases.
• 56,563 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 173 cases.
• 236,804 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 615 cases.
• 177,128 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 445 cases.
• 82,038 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 175 cases.
• 26,918 people are 80 and over — an increase of 30 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: 112
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 713
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,328
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,932
• 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 1,094 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Wednesday, Ontario reported 384 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 343 among students, 34 among staff and 7 individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon — a 24-hour period.

There are 2,675 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 2,464 active cases reported the previous day.

There are also 47 schools 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 3,829 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 11 current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently 18 active cases among long-term care residents and 30 active cases among staff — down by five and down by seven, respectively, in the last day.