Ontario reports under 300 new COVID-19 cases, 12 additional deaths

TORONTO -

Ontario is reporting 287 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, with 12 new deaths.

This marks a significant decrease from the from 346 cases reported on Saturday.

Ontario reported 256 new cases on Friday, 296 on Thursday and 255 on Wednesday.

The seven-day rolling average now stands at 286, compared to 359 a week ago.

Provincial labs processed more than 18,524 test specimens, generating a positivity rate of at least 1.5 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

The province’s virus-related death toll stands at 9,126.

Another 379 people recovered from the disease yesterday, resulting in 2,625 active cases across the province.

The Ministry of Health says 289 patients are in intensive care units due to the virus and that 230 of those patients are breathing with the help of a ventilator.

Where are the new cases?

On Sunday, there were 66 new cases in the Region of Waterloo reported, 42 in Toronto, 38 in Grey Bruce, 26 in Peel Region and 16 in the Porcupine Health Unit region.

Update on COVID-19 variants of concern

Labs found 117 additional cases of the Alpha variant, B.1.1.7, bringing the case total to 143,267.

Another 217 cases of the Delta variant, B.1.617.2, were also found, pushing its case total to 1,343.

There were 10 other cases of the Beta variant, B.1.351, reported, which brings the case total for the strain to 1,205.

8 new cases of the Gamma variant, P.1, were recorded Friday and the case total remains unchanged at 4,393.

Vaccination update

The province said it administered a record 202,672 doses of COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday.

Throughout Ontario’s seven-month vaccination campaign, 14,027,141 needles have gone into arms, including 4.1 million people who have received both shots and are considered to be fully vaccinated.