Ontario reports another 153 cases of COVID-19, seven more deaths
Ontario is reporting 153 more cases of COVID-19 as the province logs seven additional deaths linked to the disease.
Wednesday's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 547,562, including 9,265 deaths and 536,819 recoveries.
The province added 146 new infections on Tuesday and 114 on Monday, which marked the lowest number of cases reported in a single day since Sept. 1.
Labs across the province processed 29,085 COVID-19 swabs in the previous day yielding a positivity rate of 0.6 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.
The rolling seven-day average for the number of cases reported stands at 164. A week ago that number was 204.
There has been a consistent discrepancy in the hospital patient data reported by the province in recent weeks.
As such, health officials say there are 174 patients in hospital with COVID-19 and 180 are being treated in intensive care. Of those 180 patients, 116 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
Where are the new COVID-19 cases?
The province says that most of the cases reported Wednesday were found in Toronto (28), Waterloo (23), and Grey Bruce (20).
Case counts in the double digits were also reported in Peel Region (19), Middlesex-London (12), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10).
Most of the province's other 34 public health units reported fewer than five new cases and several others logged zero new cases.
Ontario is set to enter Step 3 of its reopening plan on Friday, which will once again allow for indoor dining, as well as the use of gyms and movie theatres, with capacity limits in place.
On Tuesday, Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said that he expects a rise in COVID-19 cases starting in September when the cooler weather arrives and residents head indoors.
"Last summer, we had the same type of lull," Moore said. "Ontarians are taking great advantage of the outdoors, but as soon as we come back [to] the indoors, normally, all respiratory viruses start to come back, especially around the third week of September."
READ MORE: Ontario's top doctor 'absolutely' expects rise in COVID-19 cases in September
Moore went on to say that the province is already preparing to respond to a potential surge.
305 new cases of Delta variant reported in Ontario
Another 305 instances of the Delta variant were confirmed in Ontario in the last 24-hour period, according to health officials.
This brings the total number of B.1.617.2 infections in the province to 3,057.
As well, 74 cases of the Gamma variant P.1 were confirmed, which brings the total case number to 4,933.
Labs found 16 more instances of the Beta variant B.1.351 for a total of 4,933 cases.
Ten confirmed cases of the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 were also reported, bringing the case total to 144,755.
Update on COVID-19 vaccinations
The province said it administered 179,197 COVID-19 vaccines on Tuesday.
More than 17.4M doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Ontario since the rollout began.
That number includes 7,283,528 people who have received both a first and second shot and are considered to be fully vaccinated.
Background
The numbers used in this story are found in the Ontario Ministry of Health's COVID-19 Daily Epidemiologic Summary. The number of cases for any city or region may differ slightly from what is reported by the province, because local units report figures at different times.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Inspires a sense of adventure': Sask. man conquers Mount Everest
A Saskatchewan man made it to the summit of Mount Everest earlier this month.
Grayson Murray's parents say the two-time PGA Tour winner died of suicide
Grayson Murray's parents said Sunday their 30-year-old son took his own life, just one day after he withdrew from a PGA Tour event. The family asked for privacy and that people honor Murray by being kind to one another.
Some birds may use 'mental time travel,' study finds
Real quick — what did you have for lunch yesterday? Were you with anyone? Where were you? Can you picture the scene? The ability to remember things that happened to you in the past, especially to go back and recall little incidental details, is a hallmark of what psychologists call episodic memory — and new research indicates that it’s an ability humans may share with birds called Eurasian jays.
This type of screen time has the worst effect on kids: experts
According to some experts, there is one type of screen time that is continuously excessive, and it's having a severe effect on our children.
Hamas rocket attack from Gaza sets off air raid sirens in Tel Aviv for the first time in months
Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from Gaza that set off air raid sirens as far away as Tel Aviv for the first time in months on Sunday in a show of resilience more than seven months into Israel's massive air, sea and ground offensive.
Blaine Higgs 'furious' over sexual education presentation
New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs has shared his anger on social media over a presentation in at least four high schools.
Trump confronts repeated boos during raucous Libertarian convention speech
Donald Trump was booed repeatedly while addressing Saturday night’s Libertarian Party National Convention.
Indianapolis 500 delayed as strong storm forces fans to evacuate Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The start of the Indianapolis 500 was delayed as a strong storm pushed through the area Sunday, forcing Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials to evacuate about 125,000 fans who had already arrived for "The Greatest Spectacle in Racing."
Driver, 18, gets $3,000 ticket, 32 demerit points after speeding on Laval boulevard
A young driver received a hefty fine from Laval police after they say he was driving nearly 100 km/h over the posted speed limit.