Ontario reports nearly 300 new COVID-19 cases, notes data review resulted in overestimation
Ontario is reporting nearly 300 new cases of COVID-19, but provincial health officials note that a data review has resulted in an overestimation.
The province confirmed 299 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, but officials state that today’s numbers include 90 Toronto cases from 2020.
Tuesday’s case count comes after officials reported 210 new cases on Monday, which marked the lowest case count seen since Sept. 13.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 278, down from 334 at this point last week.
With 28,306 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province dropped slightly from 1.8 per cent on Monday to 1.6 per cent on Tuesday.
Ontario also recorded another 25 deaths related to the disease, bringing the total death tally in the province to 9,154. The province noted that 19 of those deaths were from June, but were added to today’s count due to a data review.
There are currently 257 people in hospital due to the disease. At least 276 patients are in intensive care and 185 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator. Today’s hospital patient total is lower than ICU admissions which may be due to a delay in reporting.
The province deemed 371 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 533,150.
Tuesday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 544,713, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO
In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 130 cases in Toronto, including the 90 cases from last year, 20 new cases in Peel Region, 10 new cases in Durham Region and four new cases in York Region.
Officials also reported 69 new cases in Waterloo, 11 new cases in Grey Bruce Health Unit, 10 new cases each in Niagara Region, nine new cases in Hamilton and eight new cases in Porcupine Health Unit.
The province detected several more cases of variants on Tuesday. Officials are analyzing cases on an ongoing basis to detect mutations and variants of concerns.
The province confirmed an additional 31 new cases of B.1.1.7 on Tuesday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 143,381.
Officials identified 42 new cases of B.1.351 and so the total case count in the province rose to 1,315.
In addition, the province added 11 more cases of P.1 which brings its total number of cases to 4,439
As for the Delta variant, also known as the B.1.617 variant officials reported 75 new cases of the strain, which brings the total number in the province to 1,704.
Ontario is moving into Step 2 of the province’s reopening plan, which will see some personal care services and indoor malls reopen on Wednesday.
MORE THAN 4.5M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO
The province reports that 4,563,469 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 265,231 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.
Just over 14.4 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last 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
'The world is too messy for bureaucratic hurdles': Canada still bars Afghanistan aid
Ottawa has plans to finally stop blocking Canadian development aid to Afghanistan this year.
Cisco reveals security breach, warns of state-sponsored spy campaign
State-sponsored actors targeted security devices used by governments around the world, according to technology firm Cisco Systems, which said the network devices are coveted intrusion points by spies.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.