Ontario logs highest daily COVID-19 case count since beginning of September with more than 900 new infections

Disparities in kid vaccine uptake in Toronto Early data suggests vaccine uptake among children aged 5 to 11 are much higher in high-income neighbourhoods compared to low-income ones.

TORONTO — Ontario is reporting the highest COVID-19 case count seen since the beginning of September.

On Friday, the province logged 927 new cases of COVID-19.

The last time Ontario recorded a case count this high was on September 4 when 944 new cases were reported.

The new infections logged Friday represent a significant increase from the 748 new cases reported on Thursday, 591 cases reported on Wednesday and the 613 cases reported Tuesday.

The seven-day rolling average of daily COVID-19 cases now stands at about 711, a number that hasn't been seen since Sept. 20. A week ago, the seven-day average was 625.

With 33,901 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province's positivity rate is three per cent.

The province confirmed six more deaths linked to COVID-19 on Friday, which brings the total number of lab-confirmed deaths in Ontario to 9,991. Due to data cleaning, one death was added to the cumulative count from more than a month ago.

Of the 927 infections logged Friday, the Ministry of Health says that 467 were identified in individuals who were unvaccinated.

An additional 27 were found in people who were partially vaccinated and 378 were in people who are fully vaccinated. There are 55 people in Ontario with COVID-19 who have an unknown vaccination status.

Health officials have said the number of cases in vaccinated individuals will increase as more people get the shot.

Of the 268 COVID-19 patients in Ontario hospitals, Health Minister Christine Elliott said 221 cases are in people who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 47 cases are in people who are fully vaccinated.

Of the 140 people being treated in the ICU for COVID-19, 130 people are unvaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and ten people are fully vaccinated, Elliott said.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES IN ONTARIO?

Most of the new cases were found in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 129 new cases in Toronto, 54 new cases in Peel Region, 52 new cases in York Region and 41 new cases in Durham Region.

Officials also reported 62 new cases in Windsor-Essex, 73 new cases in Simcoe Muskoka, 53 new cases in Ottawa, 44 new cases in Waterloo, 46 new cases in Sudbury and 40 new cases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox.

The remaining regions in Ontario logged under 30 new infections.

According to Ontario’s epidemiology report, 76 infections were found in youth between the ages of 12 and 19. Meanwhile, nearly 200 cases were reported in the five to 11 age group.

Children between the ages of five and 11 became eligible to get the COVID-19 vaccine this week.

The majority of infections in Ontario were found in people between the ages of 20 and 59, with 485 cases logged.

In seniors 60 to 79, the province reported 107 new infections.

Nearly 89.2 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 86.2 per cent have received two doses.