Ontario reports more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for second day straight
Ontario is reporting more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for the second straight day as the number of infections in the province continues to rise.
Health officials confirmed 1,053 new COVID-19 cases in Ontario today, which is up slight from the 1,031 infections on Friday.
This past week, officials reported 788 new cases on Monday, 687 new cases on Tuesday, 780 new cases on Wednesday and 949 new cases on Thursday.
Saturday's case count is the highest in a single day since May 29, when 1,057 infections were reported.
With 32,268 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 3.5 per cent.
Ontario's rolling seven-day average of COVID-19 cases now stands at 895, up from 729 at this point last week.
As of Saturday, Ontario had confirmed 12 cases of the Omicron variant in the province. The latest case is in a person from Hamilton who recently returned to the country after a trip to South Africa.
There were eight additional COVID-19-related deaths, pushing the total number of fatalities to 10,024. The Ministry of Health says seven of those deaths occured last month.
Of the cases on Saturday, 499 are in fully vaccinated people, 469 in unvaccinated people, 25 have received one dose and 60 have an unknown vaccination status.
There were 139 new COVID-19 cases in Toronto, 101 new infections in Simcoe-Muskoka, 54 in York Region and Windsor-Essex, 45 in Middlesex-London, 30 in Halton Region and 29 in Durham Region.
There are currently 284 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Ontario. Of those, 220 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 64 are fully vaccinated, the government says.
There are currently at least 160 people being treated for COVID-19 in Ontario intensive care units.
Health officials have warned for months that cases would increase in the winter months as more people gather indoors.
"Sadly, all modelling would predict this would slowly, steadily rise and increase over the coming months, including January and February," Chief Medical Officer of Heath Dr. Kieran Moore said in November.
He asked people to remain cautious until the weather warms up in the spring and more people become eligible for third vaccine doses to protect against COVID-19.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'I just can't believe that it took so long': Body found in wreckage 3 months after deadly fire
A man accused of arson in a January Old Strathcona apartment fire is expected to be charged with manslaughter after a body was discovered in the burned building late last month.
No proof man lied to brother about number of kittens born in litter, B.C. tribunal rules
A man was denied a $5,000 payout from his brother after a B.C. tribunal dismissed his claim disputing how many kittens were born in a litter.
Work stoppage possible as WestJet issues lockout notice to maintenance engineers' union
A lockout notice issued by WestJet to a union representing aircraft maintenance engineers could result in a work stoppage next week.
Quebec police hand out hundreds of tickets to Hells Angels and other bikers before 'first run' meeting
Quebec provincial police handed out hundreds of fines to Hells Angels members and other supporting motorcycle clubs who met for their 'first run' in a small town near Sherbrooke, Que.
Auston Matthews skates ahead of Game 7, status unclear with season on the line
Auston Matthews was back on the ice with his teammates Saturday.
Russia puts Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on its wanted list
Russia has put Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on its wanted list, Russian state media reported Saturday, citing the interior ministry’s database.
Snakes almost on a plane: U.S. TSA discovers a bag with small snakes in passenger's pants
According to an X post by the Transportation Security Administration, officers at the Miami International Airport found the small bag of snakes hidden in a passenger's trousers on April 26 at a checkpoint.
A Chinese driver is praised for helping reduce casualties in a highway collapse that killed 48
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
Feds hope to table foreign interference legislation next week: LeBlanc
Democratic Institutions Minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to table legislation this week to help the federal government address foreign interference, but he wouldn't say whether the proposal will include a foreign agent registry.