Ontario reports more than 500 new COVID-19 cases for fourth straight day
Ontario health officials are reporting just over 500 new cases of COVID-19 for the fourth straight day.
Health officials confirmed 530 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Sunday after officials reported 590 on Thursday, 574 on Friday and 502 on Saturday.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 514, down from 791 at this point last week.
With 20,731 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province rose from 2.1 on Saturday to 2.6 per cent on Sunday.
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 8,957.
There are currently 373 people in hospital due to the disease, but the province has said that number may be an underestimate as not all hospitals reported their data this past weekend. At least 426 patients are in intensive care and 273 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
The province deemed 763 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Sunday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 525,125.
Sunday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 539,683, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO
Many of the new cases reported are concentrated in hot spot regions in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 102 new cases in Toronto, 81 new cases in Peel Region, 21 new cases in Durham Region and 14 new cases in York Region.
The province confirmed an additional 785 new cases of B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant) in Ontario on Sunday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 139,482.
Officials identified three new cases of B.1.351 (South African variant), bringing the total case count in the province to 1,137.
In addition, the province added nine more cases of P.1 (Brazilian variant), which brings its total number of cases to 4,133.
Ontario does not currently report how many cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, are found in the province.
Ontario entered the first step of its reopening plan on Friday, allowing patios and some non-essential retail to open for the first time in months.
MORE THAN 1.7M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO
The province reports that 1,796,782 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered vaccinated against the disease.
In the last 24-hour period, officials said 186,415 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.
Just over 11.2 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began earlier this year.
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
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre unrepentant over calling Trudeau 'wacko' as his MPs say Speaker should resign
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.