Ontario reports highest COVID-19 case count in months with 1,808 new infections logged

Ontario is reporting its highest single-day COVID-19 case total in months with 1,808 new infections logged Wednesday.

The last time case numbers in Ontario were this high was on May 21 when 1,890 cases were recorded.

Wednesday’s report brings the province’s seven-day average for the number of infections reported to about 1,514.

Of the new cases, 1,046 are in fully vaccinated individuals, 39 are in partially vaccinated individuals, and 625 are in unvaccinated individuals. The vaccination status for the remaining 98 cases was not disclosed.

In hospital, there are 357 patients with a COVID-19-related illness, including 119 unvaccinated patients, 84 fully vaccinated patients, and 11 partially vaccinated patients. No vaccination status was provided for the remaining 143 patients.

As well, of the 154 COVID-19 patients in the ICU, 78 are unvaccinated, 30 are fully vaccinated, and three are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining 43 patients was not released.

Labs across Ontario processed 44,726 tests in the last 24 hours, which the Ministry of Health said generated a positivity rate of about six per cent – down from 6.6 per cent a day earlier.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Ontario has seen 636,920 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 614,161 recoveries and 10,093 deaths, nine of which were reported since yesterday. 

Public Health Ontario estimates in a new report that more than 80 per cent of cases in the province as of Dec. 13 were of the Omicron variant.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

According to government data, most of the cases reported on Wednesday were found in Toronto (343), York Region (149), Kingston (134), and Peel Region (132).

Other areas that reported high cases numbers include Ottawa (117), Simcoe Muskoka (114), Halton Region (112), and Hamilton (86).

An additional 384 cases of COVID-19 were found in Ontario schools in the last 24 hours. Those infections involve 343 students and 34 staff members. No information was provided for the remaining 7 cases.

More than 22 per cent of Ontario’s 4,844 schools have at least one confirmed case of the novel coronavirus and nearly one per cent are closed as a result.

UPDATE ON VACCINATIONS

One year into Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination strategy, 90.3 per cent of residents over the age of 12 have one dose and 87.7 per cent have two doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.

More than 24,711,700 doses have been administered over the last 12 months, including 127,613 doses administered on Tuesday alone.

The provincial government announced Wednesday afternoon that it would expand eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots to anyone 18 and older starting Monday.

• READ MORE: Ontario expands eligibility for COVID-19 booster shots, cuts capacity limits in some indoor spaces