Ontario reports 1,536 new COVID cases as daily infections continue to soar | Globalnews.ca

Ontario is reporting 1,536 new COVID cases on Monday, as case counts continue to soar over the last week and test positivity has hit an almost seven-month high. The provincial case total now stands at 633,683.

For comparison, last Monday saw 887 new cases and the previous Monday saw 788. Over the last three days, there were 1,476 new cases reported Sunday, 1,607 on Saturday and 1,453 on Friday.

However, as infections surge, patients with COVID in ICUs (intensive care units) have remained relatively stable but are on an overall slow rise.

Of the 1,536 new cases recorded, the data showed 601 were unvaccinated people, 33 were partially vaccinated people, 809 were fully vaccinated people and for 93 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Monday’s report, 255 cases were recorded in Toronto, 142 in the Kingston-area, 129 in York Region, 116 in Ottawa, 89 in Peel Region, 82 in Windsor-Essex and 75 in Halton Region. All other local public health units reported fewer than 75 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 10,079 as one more death was reported.

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

As of 8 p.m. on Sunday, there are more than 11.3 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 87.6 per cent of the aged 12 and older population. First dose coverage stands at 90.3 per cent. There are 1,128,482 Ontarians who have received a booster shot.

For young children aged five to 11, first dose coverage stands at 30.9 per cent — 332,757 doses out of just over 1 million eligible children.

Meanwhile, 612,066 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is 97 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 800 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 11,538 — up from the previous day when it was at 10,803, and is up from Dec. 6 when it was at 8,439. 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 1,328, 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 940. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 600.

The government said 38,331 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 15,048 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 5.5 per cent — the highest seen since late May. Last week, test positivity was at 3.5 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 253 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 31 from the previous day) with 161 patients in intensive care units (up by three) and 143 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up 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.

Due to the weekend, the latest data comes from Saturday. 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.

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:

• 316,740 people are male — an increase of 785 cases.
• 314,692 people are female — an increase of 739 cases.
• 18,793 people are under the age of four — an increase of 74 cases.
• 37,865 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 298 cases.
• 56,264 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 150 cases.
• 235,744 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 470 cases.
• 176,316 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 361 cases.
• 81,723 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 156 cases.
• 26,866 people are 80 and over — an increase of 26 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: 110
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 711
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,324
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,926
• 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 944 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Monday, Ontario reported 214 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 189 among students, 23 among staff and 2 individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon — a 24-hour period.

There are 2,244 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 2,156 active cases reported Friday.

Twenty schools are closed as a result of positive cases.