Ontario reports fewer than 200 daily COVID-19 cases for a full week
Ontario has reported fewer than 200 new COVID-19 cases for the seventh day in a row as the province’s positivity rate falls to levels not seen since August 2020.
On Thursday, health officials logged 143 more infections, as well as 10 deaths. The new cases mark a slight decrease from the 154 infections reported on Wednesday and the 146 on Tuesday.
For the past week, Ontario has consistently seen COVID-19 case counts below 200, bringing the rolling seven-day average of daily infections to 154.
Last week that number was 192.
With just over 31,300 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the province says that Ontario’s positivity rate is now at 0.5 per cent—the lowest daily reported positivity rate since Aug. 23, 2020.
There has been a consistent discrepancy in the hospital patient data reported by the province in recent weeks.
Health officials say there are 168 patients in intensive care being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario. Of those patients, 114 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
In total, Ontario has identified 547,705 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since January 2020.
With the additional 10 deaths reported Thursday, the total number of people who died as a result of the disease now stands at 9,275.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?
Only three municipalities are reporting more than 10 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday.
According to the province’s epidemiology report, there are 25 cases in Waterloo, 25 in Grey-Bruce and 20 in Toronto.
All other public health units reported fewer than 10 infections.
An additional 79 cases of the Delta variant were identified in lab-positive COVID-19 tests in the last 24-hour period, bringing the total count to 3,136.
Officials also identified 16 cases of the Gamma variant, seven cases of the Alpha variant and one additional case of the Beta variant.
7.4 MILLION PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED
In the last 24-hour period, 166,201 doses of COVID-19 vaccines made it into the arms of Ontarians.
According to the government, more than 17.6 million doses have been administered since the vaccine rollout began.
At least 7,429,926 people have received both doses and are considered fully vaccinated.
The province is expected to move to Step 3 of Ontario’s economic reopening plan on Friday, which will allow indoor dining, gyms and movie theatres to resume operations for the first time in months.
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.
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.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
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.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
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.
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.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.