Ontario reports over 500 new COVID-19 cases for second day straight
Ontario has logged more than 500 new COVID-19 cases for the second day in a row.
Health officials recorded 574 cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, as well as four more deaths related to the disease.
The new infections represent a slight decrease from the 590 cases reported on Thursday.
The seven-day rolling average of daily cases in Ontario now stands at about 568, down from 889 the previous week.
The province’s positivity rate now stands at about 2.0 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health, with 28,949 tests processed in the last 24-hour period.
As of Monday, there are 489 people hospitalized with the novel coronavirus. Of those patients, 440 patients are in the ICU.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 538,651, including 8,935 deaths and 523532 recoveries.
On Friday at 12:01 a.m., the province entered Step 1 of its reopening plan.
In Step 1, patios and non-essential retail are allowed to open to in-person service. Outdoor gatherings will also be allowed with an increased 10-person cap.
WHERE ARE THE NEW CASES?
The municipalities with the most new COVID-19 cases include Toronto (109), Peel (84), and Waterloo (79).
Porcupine Public Health Unit, which was held back from entering Step 1 of the provincial reopening due to high positivity rates, is reporting 51 new infections.
VARIANT OF CONCERN UPDATE
According to the province’s epidemiology report, 1,190 cases of the B.1.1.7. variant were identified in lab-positive tests in the previous 24-hours. These new cases bring the total number of B.1.1.7. variants in Ontario to 137,307.
The province also identified an additional case of the P.1. variant, bringing the total identified in Ontario to 4,099.
Ontario is not publicly reporting cases of the B.1.617 variant originally found in India, despite health experts say the easily transmissible variant could be the cause of a fourth wave in the province.
MORE THAN 10.8 MILLION VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED
According to the province’s Ministry of Health, Ontario has administered 10,827,420 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine in total.
Of the more than 10 million doses administered, 199,951 of them went into arms on Thursday alone.
“I promised you that as soon as we had sufficient supply, we would ramp up to administer millions of vaccines each month. Thank you to everyone for your help getting us here,” Premier Doug Ford wrote on Twitter Friday to mark the milestone.
Over 1.5 million Ontarians have received both doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated by the Ministry of Health.
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
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter banned from NBA
Toronto Raptors player Jontay Porter has been handed a lifetime ban from The National Basketball Association (NBA) following an investigation which found he disclosed confidential information to sports bettors, the league says.
WATCH LIVE As GC Strategies partner is admonished by MPs, RCMP confirms search warrant executed
The RCMP confirmed Wednesday it had executed a search warrant at an address registered to GC Strategies. This development comes as MPs are enacting an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power, summoning one of its contractors to appear before the House of Commons to be admonished publicly for failing to answer questions related to the ArriveCan app.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Earthquake jolts southern Japan
An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 hit southern Japan late on Wednesday, said the Japan Meteorological Agency, without issuing a tsunami warning.
Attempt to have murder charge quashed against alleged serial killer dismissed by judge
A motion filed by the man accused of killing four Indigenous women in Winnipeg to have one of those murder charges quashed has been dismissed by the judge – weeks before the start of his trial.
Disappointment widespread over budget's proposed $200-month disability benefit funding
Advocacy groups across Canada are expressing widespread disappointment about the amount of funding earmarked in the 2024 federal budget for the long-awaited Canada Disability Benefit.
Former Sask. massage therapist who sexually assaulted clients has day parole revoked
A former massage therapist who pleaded guilty to a string of sexual assaults has had his day parole revoked.