Ontario reports 1,315 new cases of COVID-19 over two days, 20 deaths

TORONTO -

Health officials in Ontario are reporting 1,315 new cases of COVID-19 over the last two days and 20 more deaths linked to the disease.

The seven-day average for the number of cases reported stands at 597, marking a significant drop from the 655 reported last week.

Ontario did not report COVID-19 case numbers on Thursday due to the federally-observed statutory holiday.

Of the 1,315 cases reported in the last 48 hours, 668 were logged today and 647 were logged on Thursday. Most of the cases reported over the last two days were found in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status, according to the Ministry of Health.

Right now, there are 278 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 250 patients who are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Patients in intensive care with COVID-19 total 163 and 156 of those beds are occupied by individuals who are not fully vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown. 

Friday's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed infections in the province to 586,817, including recoveries and deaths.

Twenty deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 48 hours, though most of those fatalities occurred throughout the month of September and August and are only being logged now due to a data cleaning.

With 74,715 tests processed over Thursday and Friday, the province’s positivity rate for the novel coronavirus is sitting at 1.8 per cent.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Most of the cases reported by the province over the last 48-hour period were found in Toronto (204), Peel Region (150), and Ottawa (110).

Other regions with case numbers in the double digits include York Region (95), Hamilton (84) Durham Region (83), Windsor-Essex (83), and Niagara Region (75).

Schools within Ontario reported 127 new cases with 114 involving students and 13 involving staff members.

Across the province’s 4,844 schools, 810 have a reported case of the novel coronavirus and five schools are closed as a result. 

53 additional cases of Delta variant confirmed

Labs confirmed 53 more cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant B.1.617.2 since Wednesday.

More than 18,000 cases of the strain have been recorded in Ontario since the province began tracking variants of concern in February.

Six other cases of the Alpha variant B.1.1.7 were also recorded, pushing the case total to 146,471.

As well, two more cases of the P.1 Gamma variant were added following genomic sequencing. In total, there are 5,230 cases of the variant. 

Update on COVID-19 vaccinations

Throughout Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, 21,809,713 doses have been administered.

Those doses have pushed the province’s vaccination rates to nearly 86.3 per cent for eligible residents with one shot and almost 81 per cent for those with two shots.