Ontario reports 9,826 new cases of COVID-19

Health officials in Ontario are reporting 9,826 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

Health Minister Christine Elliott announced the province’s daily case count in a tweet published this morning.

Elliott also said that a record 10,412 infections were found a day earlier, a number that was already reported by CTV News Toronto based on data made available by Public Health Ontario at the time.

She said 168 COVID-19 patients are being treated in intensive care, up one from a day earlier.

The vaccination status of those in hospital was not made available by the province. Elliott added that not all hospitals in Ontario report on holidays or weekends.

Hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Ontario have remained relatively flat as case numbers continue to surge. Moreover, health experts have said that Ontario’s high case counts in recent days are likely an underestimate given the scarcity of PCR tests provincewide.

Meanwhile, Public Health Ontario data showed that seven additional deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours. Another four deaths were logged on Saturday.

Sunday’s data brings the total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario to 697,162, including deaths and recoveries.

The seven-day average for the number of cases reported across the province stands at 6,745, up from the 2,542 reported this time last week.

According to Public Health Ontario, most of the cases reported Sunday were found in Toronto (2,768), York Region (903), Ottawa (867), and Peel Region (813).

As it stands, 90.7 per cent of all Ontarians over the age of 12 have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 88 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Information regarding the number of tests performed in the last 24 hours was not made available by the province. More detailed information related to Ontario's new COVID-19 cases will be made available starting Dec. 29, according to officials.