Ontario logs highest daily case count since May with more than 1,200 new infections

Kingston Omicron case linked to community spread Ontario reported more than 1,200 new COVID-19 cases amid growing calls in the province to expand rapid testing access.

Ontario health officials are reporting the highest number of daily COVID-19 cases since late May on Thursday with 1,290 new infections logged.

In addition to the new cases reported today, 10 new deaths were recorded, pushing the total number of COVID-19-related fatalities in the province to 10,054.

Today’s case count comes after officials logged 1,009 new cases on Wednesday, 928 new cases on Tuesday and 887 new cases on Monday.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 1,055, up from 851 at this point last week.

With 40,242 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 3.5 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Thursday, 548 cases involved people who are unvaccinated, 42 were in those partially vaccinated and 83 were in individuals whose vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 617 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, 196 were reported to have been admitted in the last 24 hours — 106 of which were unvaccinated, eight were partially vaccinated and 77 were fully vaccinated.

According to the province, 155 of patients hospitalized are in intensive care due to COVID-19.

The province deemed 970 more cases of the virus to be resolved as of Thursday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 608,896.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 627,611 including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 206 new cases in Toronto, 71 new cases in Peel Region, 66 new cases in York Region, 37 new cases in Halton and 59 new cases in Durham Region.

Outside of the GTA, regions that reported more than 50 new infections include Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (98), Simcoe-Muskoka (103) and Windsor-Essex (115).

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

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 1,290 new infections reported on Thursday, 274 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 111 cases in youth between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 408 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

On Thursday, 227 COVID-19 infections were found in schools across Ontario. Of the infections found in schools, 198 were recorded in students, 24 were in staff and five were in unidentified individuals.

There are 884 schools with at least one confirmed case and 13 facilities are currently closed as a result.

OVER 11.3M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 11,311,453 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 75,093 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.

Just over 24.2 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.