Ontario reports 653 more cases of COVID-19, six additional deaths
Health officials in Ontario are reporting another 653 cases of COVID-19 Sunday as well as six additional deaths related to the disease.
Of the cases recorded today, 499 involve individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 154 are in fully vaccinated individuals.
There are 198 people in hospital with COVID-19, including 177 people in the ICU, though the vaccination status of those hospitalized was not released by the province.
Sunday’s report brings the province’s seven-day average for the number of cases logged to 620. A week ago today that number was 709.
So far, Ontario has seen 583,928 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic. That number includes 568,633 resolved cases and 9,704 deaths – six of which were reported in the last 24 hours although three occurred last month.
With 31,063 tests processed since yesterday, the Ministry of Health says that Ontario’s COVID-19 positivity rate is two per cent.
Where are the new COVID-19 cases?
Most of the cases reported by the province on Sunday were found in Toronto (109), Ottawa (71), and Hamilton (66).
Case counts in the double digits were also recorded in Peel Region (55), Halton Region (42), Windsor-Essex (42), and York Region (41).
Update on COVID-19 variants of concern
Labs confirmed 246 additional cases of the COVID-19 variant B.1.617.2 known as Delta.
This brings the total number of lab-confirmed infections to 18,260.
Moreover, four more cases of the Alpha variant B.11.7 were also confirmed following genomic sequencing, pushing the case total to 146,461.
No new cases of the Gamma variant P.1 or Beta variant B.1.351 were found in the last 24-hour period.
COVID-19 vaccinations in Ontario
As of today, 80.2 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are considered to be fully vaccinated, Health Minister Christine Elliott said in a tweet.
Elliott also noted that 85.8 per cent of the province’s eligible population now has at least one dose and that 21,651,850 needles have gone into arms during Ontario’s 10-month vaccination campaign.
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
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States, injuring at least three people.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.