Ontario reports record 10,436 new COVID-19 cases, three more deaths

Health officials in Ontario are reporting a record-breaking 10,436 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

The seven-day average for the number of news cases reported in the province stands at 9,183. This time last week, that number was 3,520 and two weeks ago it was 1,514.

Wednesday’s report comes after the province logged 8,825 cases on Tuesday, 9,418 cases on Monday, 9,826 cases on Sunday, and a then record 10,412 cases on Saturday.

Health experts have said that Ontario’s high case counts in recent days are likely an underestimate given the scarcity of PCR tests.

With 59,259 tests processed on Tuesday, the Ministry of Health said that Ontario's positivty rate is currently 26.9 per cent -- the highest it's ever been.

Three more deaths related to COVID-19 were reported in the last 24 hours, pushing Ontario’s COVID-19 death toll to 10,171.

The province has seen 725,841 lab-confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus since the beginning of the pandemic, including deaths and recoveries.

Of the cases logged today, most were found in fully vaccinated individuals at 8,221 while 1,514 were found in unvaccinated individuals. At least 425 cases were logged in those who are partially vaccinated and 276 were in those with an unknown vaccination status.

Right now, there are 726 people in hospital with COVID-19 -- up 235 patients over yesterday -- including 186 patients who are fully vaccinated, 150 who are unvaccinated and nine who are partially vaccinated. The vaccination status of the remaining patients is unknown.

In the ICU, there are 190 patients, including 70 who are unvaccinated, 35 are fully vaccinated, and two are partially vaccinated. No vaccination information was provided for the remaining patients.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

Most of the cases logged Wednesday were found in Toronto (2,715), York Region (1,252), Peel Region (1,066), and Ottawa (644), according to the province.

Other areas that reported high case numbers today include Hamilton (539), Durham Region (524), Halton Region (437), and Waterloo (422).

UPDATE ON COVID-19 VACCINATIONS

Throughout Ontario’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign, 26,815,586 doses have been administered.

That’s resulted in 90.7 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 having one dose and 88.1 per cent having two.

Over 176,000 doses were administered on Tuesday alone.