Ontario reports nearly 300 new COVID-19 cases, notes data review resulted in overestimation

TORONTO -

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.