Ontario logs 748 new COVID-19 cases and 5 more deaths

TORONTO -

Ontario is reporting 748 new cases of COVID-19 as well as five more deaths related to the disease.

The new infections logged Thursday represent a significant increase from the 591 cases reported on Wednesday and the 613 cases reported Tuesday.

The seven-day rolling average of daily infections now stands at about 692. A week ago that number was 625.

With just over 33,900 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is about 2.6 per cent.

The total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 614,270, including 9,985 deaths. The province said that five deaths were confirmed in the last 24 hours; however one death that occured more than a month ago was removed from the cumulative count due to data cleaning.

Of the 748 infections logged Thursday, the Ministry of Health says that 356 were identified in individuals who were unvaccinated. An additional 19 were found in people who were partially vaccinated.

There were 326 cases in fully vaccinated individuals and 44 in people with an unknown vaccination status.

Health officials have said the number of cases in vaccinated individuals will increase as more people get the shot.

The majority of patients being treated in Ontario intensive care units for COVID-19 are unvaccinated.

Of the 137 people being treated in the ICU for the novel coronavirus, 127 are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Just 10 patients are considered fully vaccinated.

WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?

Municipalities with the most COVID-19 infections on Thursday include Toronto (77), Windsor-Essex (57), and Simcoe-Muskoka (55).

The following public health units also reported more than 30 cases: Peel Region (48), Ottawa (45), York Region (43), Southwestern (39), Kingston (35), Brant (30), and Sudbury (30).

According to the province's epidemiology report, 175 infections were found in children under the age of 12.

Children between the ages of five and 11 became eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

• MORE: What you need to know about booking the shot for your kid in Ontario

There were 47 infections in youth between the ages of 12 and 19. The majority of infections were found in people between the ages of 20 and 60, with 415 cases.

The province says that 110 cases were found in seniors over the age of 60.

About 86.1 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine while nearly 89.1 per cent of eligible residents have received at least one shot.