Ontario marks lowest COVID-19 daily case count in months with 304 new cases
Ontario health officials are reporting 304 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, marking the lowest case count seen in the province since early August.
Today’s case count comes after officials logged 328 new cases on Tuesday and 373 new cases on Monday.
The last time the province logged fewer than 304 new cases in a single day was on Aug. 5, when officials reported 213 new cases.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 406, down from 500 at this point last week. The seven-day average has been on a downward trend recently.
With 31,569 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province fell to about 1.3 per cent.
The last time the province’s positivity rate dropped this low was on Aug. 5 when it stood at 1.2 per cent.
Of the new infections reported Wednesday, 220 cases involved people who are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 84 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.
The province recorded four new deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total death tally in the province to 9,823.
The province stated at least 258 people are in hospital due to COVID-19, including 31 people who are fully vaccinated and 227 people who are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
At least 159 patients are in intensive care in Ontario hospitals and 113 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
The province deemed 537 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Wednesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 582,609.
Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 595,867, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO
Most of the new cases were found in parts of the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 46 new cases in Toronto, 22 new cases in York Region, 15 new cases in Durham Region and 13 new cases in Peel Region.
Officials also reported 24 new cases in Sudbury area, 21 new cases in Windsor-Essex, 20 new cases in Hamilton, 19 new cases in Ottawa, 13 new cases in Southwestern Public Health and 11 new cases in Middlesex-London. All other regions reported fewer than 10 new cases of the disease.
According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 304 new infections reported on Wednesday, 59 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.
The province also recorded 24 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 109 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.
As well, officials found 84 cases in people between the ages of 40 and 59, 25 cases in people between the ages of 60 and 79 and three cases in people over the age of 80.
On Wednesday, officials reported 107 new cases in Ontario schools, including 85 cases involving students and 22 cases involving staff.
The province reported that 592 out 4,844 schools have at least one case of COVID-19. Currently, one school is closed due to an outbreak.
Officials also reported an additional 46 cases of the Delta variant in lab-confirmed COVID-19 tests. This brings the total number of cases to 20,022
MORE THAN 10.8M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO
The province reports that 10,868,680 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered fully vaccinated against the disease.
In the last 24-hour period, officials said 25,284 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.
Just over 22.2 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Canada, G7 urge 'all parties' to de-escalate in growing Mideast conflict
Canada called for "all parties" to de-escalate rising tensions in the Mideast following an apparent Israeli drone attack against Iran overnight.
'It could be catastrophic': Woman says natural supplement contained hidden painkiller drug
A Manitoba woman thought she found a miracle natural supplement, but said a hidden ingredient wreaked havoc on her health.
After hearing thousands of last words, this hospital chaplain has advice for the living
Hospital chaplain J.S. Park opens up about death, grief and hearing thousands of last words, and shares his advice for the living.
'It was all my savings': Ontario woman loses $15K to fake Walmart job scam
A woman who recently moved to Canada from India was searching for a job when she got caught in an online job scam and lost $15,000.
Families to receive Canada Child Benefit payment on Friday
More money will land in the pockets of some Canadian families on Friday for the latest Canada Child Benefit installment.
After COVID, WHO defines disease spread 'through air'
The World Health Organization and around 500 experts have agreed for the first time on what it means for a disease to spread through the air, in a bid to avoid the confusion early in the COVID-19 pandemic that some scientists have said cost lives.
Taylor Swift drops 15 new songs on double album, 'The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology'
On Friday, the pop star released her 11th album and at 2 a.m. Eastern, she released "The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology," featuring 15 additional songs.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
DEVELOPING G7 warns of new sanctions against Iran as world reacts to apparent Israeli drone attack
Group of Seven foreign ministers warned of new sanctions against Iran on Friday for its drone and missile attack on Israel, and urged both sides to avoid an escalation of the conflict.