Ontario reports 3,453 new COVID-19 cases, 11 deaths as province hits new third dose milestone

Ontario health officials are reporting 3,453 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as the province hits a new third dose vaccine milestone.

On Tuesday morning, Health Minister Christine Elliott said on social media that about two million Ontario residents have received their booster shot. Third dose eligibility opened up to all adults over the age of 18 on Monday.

In addition to the new cases reported today, officials recorded 11 new deaths. However, the province also removed one death from the cumulative total due to data cleaning, pushing the total number of COVID-19-related fatalities in the province to 10,123.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 3,153, up from 1,400 at this point last week.

Today’s case count comes after officials logged 3,784 cases on Monday, 4,177 cases on Sunday and 3,031 cases on Saturday.

With 49,285 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 9.9 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Tuesday, 673 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, 132 were in those partially vaccinated and 148 were in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 2,500 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 412 people are in hospital due to COVID-19. Of the patients hospitalized in the past 24 hours, 145 were unvaccinated, 12 had an unknown vaccination status and 109 were fully vaccinated.

According to officials, 165 people are in the ICU due to COVID-19.

The province deemed 1,332 more cases of the virus to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 621,355.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 657,180, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 901 new cases in Toronto, 280 new cases in Peel Region, 345 new cases in York Region, 245 new cases in Halton and 160 new cases in Durham Region.

Outside of the GTA, regions that reported more than 100 new infections include Hamilton (158), Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (118), Middlesex-London (110), Ottawa (359) and Waterloo (168).

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 3,453 new infections reported on Tuesday, 470 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 373 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 1,453 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

On Tuesday, 211 COVID-19 infections were found in schools across Ontario. Of the infections found in schools, 173 were recorded in students, 30 were in staff and eight were in unidentified individuals.

There are 1,248 schools with at least one confirmed case and 10 facilities are currently closed as a result.

OVER 11.3M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 11,367,446 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 206,595 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.

Just over 25.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.