Ontario logs just over 850 new COVID-19 cases and 15 more deaths

Ontario won't mandate vaccines for health workers The Ford government will not enforce a vaccine policy for workers in health care. CTV's Megan Shaw reports.

TORONTO — Ontario is reporting just over 850 new COVID-19 cases as well as 15 additional deaths related to the disease.

Of the 857 new infections logged Saturday, health officials say 649 were not fully vaccinated or had an unknown status.

Saturday’s cases mark a slight increase from the 848 cases reported Friday and the 798 cases logged Thursday.

Due in large part to a three-day dip mid week in which the province reported fewer than 600 infections, the seven-day rolling average of daily cases is 716, down from 757 the previous week.

With just over 26,200 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the province’s positivity rate is about 3.5 per cent.

There are 363 people being treated for the novel coronavirus in Ontario hospitals, and officials say 321 of those patients are not fully vaccinated with both shots or have an unknown vaccination status.

At least 180 people are being treated in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 114 of those patients are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator

According to health officials, 165 of the people being treated in ICUs are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown status.

Of the 15 deaths reported Saturday, officials say that seven "occurred more than one month ago and were added to the cumulative count based on data cleaning."

The total number of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 573,835, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

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

According to the province's epidemiology report, 170 cases were in Toronto, 100 were in Peel Region and 77 were in York Region.

Numerous other public health units reported more than 20 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, including Ottawa (73), Hamilton (55), Windsor-Essex (50), Durham Region (29), Waterloo (29), Niagara (29), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (26), Chatham-Kent (24), and Middlesex-London (24).

Of the new cases, the majority were found in those between the ages of 20 and 60.

There were 346 lab-confirmed cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39, and another 193 cases in those between the ages of 40 and 59.

According to the province, there were 46 cases in children aged four and under and 105 cases in children between the ages of five and 11.

There were 71 cases in teenagers aged 12 to 19.

Seventy-eight infections were logged in individuals between the ages of 60 and 79 while only 18 cases were found in those over the age of 80.

MORE THAN 40K VACCINE DOSES ADMINISTERED IN 24 HOURS

In the last 24-hour period, there were 40,200 COVID-19 vaccine doses administered to Ontario residents.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said Saturday that just over 84 per cent of eligible Ontario residents aged 12 and up have received one dose while nearly 80 per cent have received both shots.

More than 10 million people are considered fully vaccinated with both doses in Ontario.