COVID-19 cases in Ontario jump past 200 for first time in three weeks

TORONTO -

Ontario health officials are reporting a jump in COVID-19 cases Thursday with more than 200 new infections recorded.

The 218 cases mark the first time in three weeks in which the province has logged more than 200 new cases.

Thursday's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases across Ontario to 549,952, including 539,200 recoveries and 9,328 deaths related to the disease.

Right now, the seven-day average for number of cases reported sits at 165. That's up from the 155 reported a week earlier.  

With 19,425 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the province’s COVID-19 positivity rate is 1.3 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

There are currently 121 patients in intensive care with COVID-19. Of those patients, 79 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. 

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Most of the cases reported by the province Thursday were found in Toronto (38), Peel Region (38), and Waterloo (19).

Other health units that reported case numbers in the double digits include Hamilton (25), Grey Bruce (13), Halton Region (12), Middlesex-London (10), and York Region (10).

At least 16 of the province's 34 public health units recorded fewer than 10 new cases of the novel coronavirus and several others recorded no new cases.

Update on COVID-19 variants of concern

Another 377 cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant B.1.617.2 were confirmed in the last 24 hours. This brings the case total for the strain to 4,421.

Thirty-four cases of the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 were also found, bringing the case total to 145,508.

Labs logged two additional cases of the Gamma variant P.1. There are 5,161 such infections confirmed in Ontario.

No new cases of the Beta variant B.1.351 were recorded since yesterday. The case total remains at 1,492.

More than 19 million doses of vaccine administered

Since the beginning of the province’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, Ontario has administered 19,293,701 doses of vaccine.

That includes 89,000 shots that went into arms yesterday and more than 8 million residents that have received both doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.