Ontario logs 129 new COVID-19 cases and five more deaths

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TORONTO — Ontario is reporting 129 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday as well as five deaths related to the disease.

The new infections mark a slight increase from the 119 cases reported on Monday, but remain lower than the four previous days in which the daily case count has been above 150.

The seven-day rolling average of daily reported COVID-19 cases now stands at 157, up slightly from the previous week when that number was 149.

The five new deaths reported on Tuesday bring the death toll related to COVID-19 in Ontario to 9,321.

There are 91 people in Ontario intensive care units who have tested positive for COVID-19, but that number increases to 127 if patients who were admitted for the disease but no longer test positive are included.

Of those patients, 81 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

With just over 13,600 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate now stands at about one per cent.

In total, there have been 549,576 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ontario since the beginning of the pandemic, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE COVID-19 CASES?

The majority of infections continue to be found in the Greater Toronto Area.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, 37 of the new cases were located in Toronto, while 22 were in Peel Region and 12 were in Hamilton.

Fourteen public health units are reporting no cases of COVID-19 while the remaining municipalities in Ontario have logged fewer than 10 new infections.

Seven additional cases of the Alpha B.1.1.7. variant were identified in lab-positive tests across Ontario in the last 24-hour period. This brings the total number of cases to 145,412.

There were also five more cases of the Delta B.1.617 variant identified in the province.

JUST OVER 92,000 SHOTS ADMINISTERED

In the last 24-hour period, Ontario has administered 92,035 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

More than 8.7 million people in the province have now received two doses and are considered fully vaccinated.

In total, 19,110,428 shots have made it into arms since the vaccine rollout began.

Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Kieran Moore said Tuesday that the province is in the "last leg of the race" to get vaccine shots into arms, noting that just over 31,200 cases of COVID-19 have been prevented in adults to date as a result of vaccinations.

"A further 2,496 hospitalizations or deaths have been prevented in individuals 70 years of age and older, likely these are also an under estimate," he said. "This is a fantastic program that's saving lives, preventing hospitalization and protecting our communities."