Ontario's COVID-19 cases continue to rise with 1,453 new infections, 11 additional deaths

Ontario health officials are reporting 1,453 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

In addition to the new cases reported today, officials recorded 11 new deaths, pushing the total number of COVID-19-related fatalities in the province to 10,065.

Today’s case count comes after officials logged 1,115 new cases on Thursday, 1,009 new cases on Wednesday and 928 new cases on Tuesday.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 1,055, up from 866 at this point last week.

With 39,941 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 4.4 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Friday, 613 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, 26 were in those partially vaccinated and 96 were in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 718 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.

Health experts have noted the number of COVID-19 infections identified in fully vaccinated individuals will naturally increase as more people get both of their shots. Vaccination helps reduce the risk of severe symptoms related to COVID-19 as well as hospitalization.

The province stated at least 309 people are in hospital due to COVID-19. Of those hospitalized, 189 were reported to have been admitted in the last 24 hours — 103 of which were unvaccinated, eleven were partially vaccinated and 75 were fully vaccinated.

The province says 151 patients are in intensive care due to COVID-19.

The province deemed 910 more cases of the virus to be resolved as of Friday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 609,806.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 629,064 including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 195 new cases in Toronto, 89 new cases in Peel Region, 91 new cases in York Region, 68 new cases in Halton and 76 new cases in Durham Region.

Outside of the GTA, regions that reported more than 50 new infections include Hamilton (54), Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (95), Middlesex-London (52), Ottawa (109), Simcoe-Muskoka (73) and Windsor-Essex (89).

All other regions reported fewer than 50 new cases of the virus.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 1,453 new infections reported on Friday, 355 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 152 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 455 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

On Friday, 198 COVID-19 infections were found in schools across Ontario. Of the infections found in schools, 174 were recorded in students, 17 were in staff and seven were in unidentified individuals.

There are 906 schools with at least one confirmed case and 16 facilities are currently closed as a result.

OVER 11.3M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 11,316,878 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered fully vaccinated against the virus.

In the last 24-hour period, officials said 78,390 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.

Just over 24.3 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.