Ontario reports 3,301 new COVID-19 cases, four additional deaths

Ontario health officials are reporting 3,301 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday.

In addition to the new cases reported today, officials recorded four new deaths, pushing the total number of COVID-19-related fatalities in the province to 10,111.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 2,156, up from 1,194 at this point last week.

Today’s case count comes after officials logged 3,124 new cases on Friday, 2,421 new cases on Thursday and 1,808 new cases on Wednesday.

With 54,407 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 8.9 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Saturday, 718 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, 104 were in those partially vaccinated and 141 were in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 2,338 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.

Health experts have noted the number of COVID-19 infections identified in fully vaccinated individuals will naturally increase as more people get both of their shots. Vaccination helps reduce the risk of severe symptoms related to COVID-19 as well as hospitalization.

The province stated at least 382 people are in hospital due to COVID-19. Of those hospitalized, 189 were reported to have been admitted in the last 24 hours — 121 of which were unvaccinated, nine were partially vaccinated and 88 were fully vaccinated.

The province says 154 patients are in intensive care due to COVID-19.

The province deemed 1,207 more cases of the virus to be resolved as of Saturday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 617,773.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 645,766 including deaths and recoveries.

On Friday, the province announced new health and safety measures in an effort to curb the transmission of the Omicron variant.

Starting at 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, gathering sizes will drop from 25 people to 10 people indoors. Outdoor gathering limits will be lowered to 25.

Additionally, Ontario is reintroducing capacity limits of 50 per cent at most indoor settings across the province. This includes places like restaurants and bars, personal care services, retailers, and shopping malls. 

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 851 new cases in Toronto, 246 new cases in Peel Region, 242 new cases in York Region, 189 new cases in Halton and 150 new cases in Durham Region.

Outside of the GTA, regions that reported more than 100 new infections include Hamilton (139), Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (144), Middlesex-London (126), Ottawa (256), Waterloo (109) and Simcoe-Muskoka (186).

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 3,301 new infections reported on Saturday, 433 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 316 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 1,444 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

OVER 11.3M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 11,355,707 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered fully vaccinated against the virus.

In the last 24-hour period, officials said 168,923 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.

Just over 25.1 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.