Ontario reports 928 new cases of COVID-19 as positivity rate climbs

Health officials in Ontario are reporting 928 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as the province's positivity rate for the disease reaches a level unseen in months.

Of the cases logged today, 424 were found in unvaccinated individuals, 401 were found in fully vaccinated individuals, and 26 were reported in those who are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining 77 cases was not released.

With 26,136 tests processed since Monday, Ontario’s COVID-19 positivity rate stands at 3.8 per cent, the highest level reported since May 31 when it reached 4.3 per cent.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 total 340, including 122 patients who are unvaccinated, 75 who are fully vaccinated, and 10 who are partially vaccinated. No vaccination information was provided for the remaining 133 cases.

At least 165 patients are in the ICU with a COVID-19-related illness. Of those patients, 70 are unvaccinated, 19 are fully vaccinated, and three are partially vaccinated.

Tuesday’s report brings Ontario’s seven-day average for the number of cases reported to 975. A week ago, that number was 794 and two weeks ago it was 675.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the province has seen 625,312 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19. That number includes 606,797 recoveries and 10,036 deaths, nine of which were reported in the last 24 hours.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

Most of the cases reported by the province on Tuesday were found in Toronto (163), York Region (84), and Simcoe Muskoka (68).

Other areas that reported relatively high COVID-19 case numbers include Sudbury (58), Windsor-Essex (51), Hamilton (50), Peel Region (48), and Ottawa (48).

Meanwhile, Ontario schools reported 178 new cases. Those infections include 162 students and 16 staff members.

Of the province’s 4,844 schools, 810 have at least one confirmed cases of COVID-19 and six schools are closed.

UPDATE ON VACCINATIONS IN ONTARIO

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that 90.1 per cent of Ontarians have one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.4 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.

Throughout the province’s vaccination campaign, 24,076,464 needles have gone into arms across Ontario, 60,631 of which were administered yesterday.