Ontario reports fewer than 700 new COVID-19 cases for first time since October
Ontario health officials are reporting fewer than 700 new cases of COVID-19 for the first time in more than seven months.
The province confirmed 699 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday, which comes after officials logged 916 cases on Monday.
The last time Ontario reported fewer than 699 cases was on Oct. 18, 2020 when officials reported 658 new cases of the disease.
Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 1,029, down from 1,693 at this point last week.
With 20,262 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate dropped from 4.3 per cent on Monday to 3.6 per cent on Tuesday.
Ontario also added nine COVID-19-related deaths in the previous 24-hour period, bringing the total number of fatalities to 8,766.
There are currently 804 people in hospital due to the disease. At least 583 of these patients are in intensive care and 335 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.
The province deemed 1,568 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 511,703.
Tuesday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 532,158, including deaths and recoveries.
WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO
Most of the new cases reported are concentrated in hot spot regions in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 207 new cases in Toronto, 144 new cases in Peel Region, 50 new cases in Durham Region and 52 new cases in York Region.
The province confirmed an additional 762 new cases of B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant) in Ontario on Tuesday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 126,707.
Officials identified one new case of B.1.351 (South African variant), bringing the total case count in the province to 949.
In addition, the province added 45 more cases of P.1 (Brazilian variant), which brings its total number of cases to 2,867.
Ontario does not currently report how many cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, are found in the province.
MORE THAN 739K PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO
The province reports that 739,722 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 120,195 doses of the vaccine were administered to residents in the province. Officials have repeatedly said they have the capacity to give about 150,000 vaccines a day.
A total of 9,202,220 vaccine doses have been administered in Ontario since the rollout began earlier this year.
The City of Toronto says that more than 70 per cent of adults will have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine as of today.
In a news release, the city says that some 1,778,000 people over the age of 18 have had the shot since its vaccination campaign began in December.
“This milestone is evidence that residents have confidence in COVID19 vaccines & are doing their part to fight the pandemic,” Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa said in a tweet.
The city went on to say there is a need to continue the vaccination “momentum” as the province has said that the rate of inoculation is a “key consideration” in the upcoming reopening plan.
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

Two Canadian citizens confirmed dead in Antigua: Global Affairs
Global Affairs Canada has confirmed the death of two Canadian citizens in Antigua and Barbuda, news that comes amid reports from local officials that a woman and child drowned last week at Devil’s Bridge.
Senators were intimidated, had their privilege breached, Speaker rules
Any attempt to intimidate a senator while in the process of fulfilling their duties is a breach of their privilege, even if the effort is ultimately unsuccessful, the Speaker of the Senate ruled Tuesday.
Nearly 70 victim impact statements expected at Nathaniel Veltman sentencing
As the Crown and the defence discussed legal matters ahead of the sentencing hearing of Nathaniel Veltman, the court heard that 68 victim impact statements are expected to be submitted.
'Widespread' sexual and gender-based crimes committed during Hamas attack, Israeli officials say
Israeli officials say there were 'widespread' sexual and gender-based crimes committed by Hamas during its Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Montreal Mayor Valerie Plante collapses during press conference
Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante is 'doing well' but will reduce the pace of her activities over the next few days after collapsing during a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday morning.
opinion Tom Mulcair: Poilievre keeps scoring into the Liberals' empty net
In his column for CTVNews.ca, former NDP leader Tom Mulcair says Pierre Poilievre's new 'Housing Hell' video dealt a 'devastating' blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberals, whose cupboard seems empty of big ideas.
Here is Canada's unseasonably mild December forecast
December is predicted to be unseasonably mild across Canada, thanks to a "moderate-to-strong" El Nino and human-caused warming. Warming and precipitation trends will be stronger in some parts of the country than others, and severe weather is still possible, meteorologists say.
Israel moves into Gaza's second-largest city and intensifies strikes in bloody new phase of the war
Israel said Tuesday that its troops had entered Gaza's second-largest city as intensified bombardment sent streams of ambulances and cars racing to hospitals with wounded and dead Palestinians, including children, in a bloody new phase of the war.
Canadian 15-year-old students' math scores have been dipping since 2003: study
Most 15-year-old students in Canada met the basic standards for math and the country was among the top 10 performers in the tests, though scores have been dropping since 2003, according to a new global report.