Ontario logs fewer than 500 new COVID-19 cases for first time in 8 months
Ontario’s daily COVID-19 case count has dipped below the 500 mark for the first time in just over eight months.
Health officials logged 469 new infections on Tuesday, as well as 18 deaths related to the novel coronavirus.
The last time the case count was this low was on Sept. 26, 2020, when 435 COVID-19 cases were reported.
Tuesday also marks the ninth day in a row in which Ontario’s daily case count has been below 1,000.
The seven-day rolling average of daily reported COVID-19 cases continues to decline and now stands at about 679, down from 1,029 a week ago.
There are 621 people being treated for the novel coronavirus in Ontario hospitals. At least 481 of those patients are in intensive care.
With 17,579 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate now stands at 2.7 per cent.
The decline in COVID-19 cases over the past week resulted in an earlier reopening for Ontario, with the government announcing Monday that the province would move into Step 1 three days earlier.
On Friday, outdoor gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed and patios will be able to open their doors. Non-essential retail will also be allowed to reopen with strict capacity limits.
The total number of lab-confirmed positive cases of COVID-9 in Ontario now stands 537,076, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?
The majority of cases are found in Toronto (182) and Peel Region (76).
The province is reporting zero cases in York Region, but says that the case counts appear to be the result of data cleaning and updating previously reported cases.
Aside from York Region, there are eight public health units with no new COVID-19 cases, while all other municipalities are reporting fewer than 50 infections.
According to the province’s epidemiology report, 1,010 cases of the B.1.1.7. variant were identified in lab-positive tests in the previous 24-hours. These new cases bring the total number of B.1.1.7. variants in Ontario to 133,706.
The province also identified an additional 30 cases of the P.1. variant.
Ontario is not publicly reporting cases of the B.1.617 variant originally found in India.
MORE THAN 1.1 MILLION PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED
The province administered just over 158,200 vaccine doses in the last 24-hour period.
In total, more than 10.3 million vaccine doses have made it into the arms of Ontarians. Just over 1.1 million people have received two shots and are considered 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
BREAKING Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
BREAKING New York appeals court overturns Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction from landmark #MeToo trial
New York’s highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein’s 2020 rape conviction, finding the judge at the landmark #MeToo trial prejudiced the ex-movie mogul with improper rulings, including a decision to let women testify about allegations that weren’t part of the case.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.
Secret $70M Lotto Max winners break their silence
During a special winner celebration near their hometown, Doug and Enid shared the story of how they discovered they were holding a Lotto Max ticket worth $70 million and how they kept this huge secret for so long.
Remains from a mother-daughter cold case were found nearly 24 years later, after a deathbed confession from the suspect
A West Virginia father is getting some sense of closure after authorities found the remains of his young daughter and her mother following a deathbed confession from the man believed to have fatally shot them nearly two decades ago.
Monthly earnings rise, payroll employment falls: jobs report
The number of vacant jobs in Canada increased in February, while monthly payroll employment decreased in food services, manufacturing, and retail trade, among other sectors.
First in Canada procedure performed at London, Ont. hospital
A London man has become the first person in Canada to receive a robotic assisted surgery on his spine. Dave Myeh suffered from debilitating, chronic back pain that led to sciatica in his right now and extreme pain in his lower back.
Doctors say capital gains tax changes will jeopardize their retirement. Is that true?
The Canadian Medical Association asserts the Liberals' proposed changes to capital gains taxation will put doctors' retirement savings in jeopardy, but some financial experts insist incorporated professionals are not as doomed as they say they are.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.