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
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
RCMP not investigating possible foreign interference cases related to Chiu, Dong: Duheme
Canada's federal police force is not investigating any possible instances of foreign interference in the cases of former Conservative MP Kenny Chiu and Liberal-turned-Independent MP Han Dong, RCMP Commissioner Mike Duheme says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
Stormy Daniels took the witness stand Tuesday at Donald Trump's hush money trial, describing for jurors a sexual encounter the porn actor says she had with him in 2006 that resulted in her being paid off to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Federal government grants B.C.'s request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces
The federal government is granting British Columbia's request to recriminalize hard drugs in public spaces, nearly two weeks after the province asked to end its pilot project early over concerns of public drug use.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.
Boy Scouts of America changing name for first time in 114 years, aiming for inclusivity
The Boy Scouts of America is changing its name for the first time in its 114-year history and will become Scouting America. It's a significant shift as the organization emerges from bankruptcy following a flood of sexual abuse claims and seeks to focus on inclusion.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Trudeau's handling of Poilievre's 'wacko' House turfing a clear sign of Liberal desperation
When Speaker Greg Fergus tossed out Pierre Poilievre from the House last week, "those of us who have experience as parliamentarians simply couldn't believe our eyes," writes former NDP leader Tom Mulcair in his column for CTVNews.ca
MPs agree Canadian gov't should improve new disability benefit
The federal government needs to safeguard the incoming Canada Disability Benefit from clawbacks and do more to ensure it actually meets the stated aim of lifting people living with disabilities out of poverty, MPs from all parties agree.