Just over 150 new COVID-19 cases logged in Ontario as 7-day average rises

TORONTO -

Ontario is reporting just over 150 new cases of COVID-19 as the seven-day rolling average of daily infections continues to rise.

On Wednesday, health officials logged 158 new cases of the novel coronavirus, as well as four additional deaths related to the disease.

There were 127 infections reported on Tuesday, 119 on Monday and 172 on Sunday.

The seven-day rolling average of daily COVID-19 cases now stands at about 160, up from 155 the previous week.

The seven-day average has been creeping up following four days in which the daily case count was above the 150 mark.

With just over 20,500 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24-hours, the Ministry of Health says that the province’s positivity rate now stands at about 0.8 per cent.

The deaths reported Wednesday bring the province’s death toll related to COVID-19 to 9,325.

According to the province, there are 122 patients in Ontario intensive care units as a result of COVID-19. Of those patients, 83 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

In total, there have been 549,734 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 identified in Ontario, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?

The majority of new infections are found in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

There are 25 cases in Toronto, 19 in York Region, 19 in Waterloo, 15 in Hamilton, 13 in Durham Region and 10 in Peel Region.

Eleven public health units are reporting no new cases of COVID-19, while all other municipalities have logged fewer than 10 infections.

SIGNIFICANT JUMP IN DELTA VARIANT

On Wednesday, the province reported an additional 123 cases of the Delta B. 1617.2 variant in lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. This brings the total number of Delta variant cases in Ontario to 4,044.

Ontario health officials also reporte62 more cases of the Alpha B.1.1.7. variant and 17 cases of the Gamma P.1. variant.

In total, there are 156,169 lab-confirmed cases involving variants of concern identified in Ontario.

Chief medical officer of health Dr. Kieran Moore said on Tuesday the Delta variant is expected to cause a rise in cases over the next few months and that vaccination is critical to reduce hospitalizations and deaths.

He added that the risk of getting the disease is 6.4 times higher for unvaccinated people.

In the last 24 hours, 94,116 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered to eligible Ontarians.

More than 8.7 million people have received two shots and are considered fully vaccinated.