Ontario reports 441 new COVID-19 cases as test positivity hits over 3%

Ontario is reporting 441 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, a lower count than the previous day but much higher than the last two Tuesdays. The provincial case total now stands at 604,152.

For comparison, last Tuesday saw 331 new cases and the previous Tuesday saw 269. All three Tuesdays saw comparable testing volumes in the 20,000 range.

Of the 441 new cases recorded, the data showed 225 were unvaccinated people, 19 were partially vaccinated people, 173 were fully vaccinated people and for 24 people the vaccination status was unknown.

According to Tuesday’s report, 61 cases were recorded in Sudbury, 55 in Toronto, 37 in Simcoe Muskoka, 34 in Hamilton, 30 in York Region, and 20 in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph. All other local public health units reported fewer than 20 new cases in the provincial report.

The death toll in the province has risen to 9,903 as three more deaths were recorded.

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

As of 8 p.m. on Monday, 13,049 vaccines (4,674 for a first shot and 8,375 for a second shot) were administered in the last day.

There are more than 11 million people fully immunized with two doses, which is 85.1 per cent of the eligible (12 and older) population. First dose coverage stands at 88.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, 590,227 Ontario residents were reported to have recovered from COVID-19, which is about 98 per cent of known cases. Resolved cases increased by 456 from the previous day.

Active cases in Ontario now stand at 4,022 — up from the previous day when it was at 4,040, and is up from Nov. 2 when it was at 3,100. 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 492, which is up from the week prior when it was 371. A month ago, the seven-day average was around 550.

The government said 19,368 tests were processed in the previous 24 hours. There are 14,750 tests currently under investigation.

Test positivity hit 3.1 per cent, the highest seen in almost two months. Last week, test positivity was at 1.5 per cent.

Hospitalizations in Ontario

Ontario reported 244 people in general hospital wards with COVID-19 (up by 139 from the previous day) with 127 patients in intensive care units (up by seven) and 115 patients in intensive care units on a ventilator (up by eight).

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, 81 were unvaccinated, 9 were partially vaccinated and 69 were fully vaccinated. For those in ICUs, 54 were unvaccinated while three were partially vaccinated and 20 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.

Variants of concern in Ontario

Officials have listed breakdown data for the new VOCs (variants of concern) detected so far in the province which consists of:

Alpha: 146,513 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day. This strain dominated Ontario’s third wave.

Delta: 21,894 variant cases, which is up by 185 since the previous day. This strain is dominating Ontario’s fourth wave.

Beta: 1,503 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

Gamma: 5,231 variant cases, which is unchanged since the previous day.

Here is a breakdown of the total cases in Ontario by gender and age:

• 302,024 people are male — an increase of 227 cases.
• 299,966 people are female — an increase of 212 cases.
• 17,357 people are under the age of four — an increase of 19 cases.
• 32,455 people are 5 to 11 — an increase of 71 cases.
• 53,877 people are 12 to 19 — an increase of 30 cases.
• 226,975 people are 20 to 39 — an increase of 140 cases.
• 168,979 people are 40 to 59 — an increase of 95 cases.
• 78,151 people are 60 to 79 — an increase of 61 cases.
• 26,252 people are 80 and over — an increase of 25 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: Six
• Deaths reported in ages 20 to 39: 104
• Deaths reported in ages 40 to 59: 691 (+1)
• Deaths reported in ages 60 to 79: 3,243 (+2)
• Deaths reported in ages 80 and older: 5,858
• 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 482 out of 4,844 schools in Ontario with at least one COVID-19 case.

On Tuesday, Ontario reported 181 new COVID-19 cases in schools — with 159 among students, 17 among staff and five individuals were not identified. The data was collected between Friday afternoon and Monday afternoon — a three-day period.

There are 961 active infections among both students and staff, compared with 91active cases reported Friday.

Three 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 3,824 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 2 current outbreaks in homes, which is unchanged from the previous day.

The ministry also indicated there are currently no active cases among long-term care residents and 5 active cases among staff — down by two and down by four, respectively, in the last day.

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