Ontario reports 321 new COVID-19 cases, 10 additional deaths
Another 321 cases of COVID-19 are being reported across Ontario on Wednesday, as well as 10 additional deaths linked to the disease.
The seven-day average for the number of cases reported in the province stands at 366. This time last week, that number was 406.
Of the cases reported Wednesday, 158 involve individuals who are unvaccinated and 118 involve those who are fully vaccinated. The 45 remaining cases involve people who are either not fully vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown at this time.
Wednesday’s report marks a jump from the 269 novel coronavirus infections logged a day earlier, which was the lowest single-day case total recorded in months.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ontario has seen 598,431 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 585,591 recoveries and 9,862 deaths—10 of which were reported by the province today. Nine of those deaths occurred in September and one occurred more than one month ago but are only being reported today due to a “data cleaning,” the government said.
Right now, there are 215 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 188 patients who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 27 patients who are fully vaccinated. Of the 134 patients in the ICU, 118 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 16 are fully vaccinated.
With 30,776 tests processed in the last 24 hours, Ontario's COVID-19 positivity rate stands at 1.4 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.
Where are the new COVID-19 cases?
Most of the cases reported by the province on Wednesday were found in Toronto (66), York Region (33), Ottawa (27), and Sudbury (27).
Other areas that reported notable COVID-19 case counts include Windsor-Essex (17), Halton Region (17), Peel Region (16), and Middlesex-London (16).
Ninety COVID-19 infections were found in schools across Ontario since Tuesday. Eighty-five of those cases were recorded in students and the remaining five were in staff members.
There are 533 schools with at least one confirmed case and two facilities are currently closed as a result.
In the last 24 hours, labs confirmed seven additional cases of the COVID-19 Delta variant B.1.617.2. The province has confirmed 20,618 cases of the strain so far.
Update on COVID-19 vaccinations
As of Wednesday, nearly 88 per cent of the eligible population has one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine and almost 84.1 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.
On Tuesday, Premier Doug Ford said the province would hit its target of 90 per cent vaccination coverage in those eligible even without the vaccine approval for children under 12.
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
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
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.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
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.
New deep-water channel allows first ship to pass Key bridge wreckage in Baltimore
The first cargo ship passed through a newly opened deep-water channel in Baltimore on Thursday after being stuck in the harbor since the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed four weeks ago, halting most maritime traffic through the city's port.
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.