Ontario reports more than 350 new COVID-19 cases as positivity rate hits lowest since early October

TORONTO -

Ontario health officials are reporting just over 350 new COVID-19 cases as the positivity rate in the province continues to drop.

The province confirmed 370 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Thursday, which marks a slight drop from the 384 reported the day before. On Tuesday, officials marked the lowest daily total since Sept. 17 with 293 infections.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 443, down from 618 at this point last week.

With 30,454 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province dropped from 1.5 per cent on Wednesday to 1.3 per cent on Thursday.

The last time the province recorded a positivity rate of 1.3 per cent was on Oct. 2, before the peak of the second and third waves.

The province also reported that seven more people have died due to COVID-19 in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the total number of deaths to 8,993.

There are currently 397 people in hospital due to the disease. At least 362 patients are in intensive care and 232 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

The province deemed 635 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Thursday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 527,797.

Thursday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 541,180, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 67 new cases in Toronto, 47 new cases in Peel Region, 27 new cases in York Region and 13 new cases in Durham Region.

Officials also reported 57 new cases in Waterloo, 34 new cases in Ottawa, 17 new cases in Middlesex-London and Porcupine Health Unit and 10 new cases in Niagara Region.

The province confirmed an additional 366 new cases of B.1.1.7, first found in the U.K., on Thursday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 141,472.

Officials identified three new cases of B.1.351, originally found in South African, and so the total case count in the province rose to 1,144.

In addition, the province added 31 more cases of P.1, first found in Brazil, which brings its total number of cases to 4,187.

As for the Delta variant, also known as the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, officials reported 89 new cases of the strain, which brings the total number in the province to 586.

MORE THAN 2.3M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 2,371,035 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered fully vaccinated against the disease.

In the last 24-hour period, officials said 210,611 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents, marking the highest number of shots given in a single day so far in the province.

Just over 11.9 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began earlier this year.