Ontario records more than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases for third straight day

Eligible recipients get their COVID-19 vaccines at a mass vaccination clinic in Toronto on Monday, March 8, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

TORONTO — Ontario recorded more than 1,100 new COVID-19 cases for the third consecutive day on Tuesday.

The 1,185 infections mark a decrease from Monday’s report when 1,631 cases were added, which the government said was an overestimation due to a data issue.

This bring Ontario’s lab-confirmed COVID-19 case count to 311,112, including 292,806 recoveries and 7,083 deaths.

Six of those deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, the province said.

Labs across Ontario processed 33,264 tests in the previous day, producing a positivity rate of 3.7 per cent.

Ontario’s seven-day average for number of new cases reported is 1,187. This time last week, that number was 1,098.

Right now, there are 11,223 active cases of COVID-19 across the province.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

The lion’s share of the new cases reported Tuesday were found in just three regions.

The province said 343 cases were logged in Toronto, while 235 were recorded in Peel Region and 105 in York Region.

Toronto and Peel Region moved back into the province’s colour-coded framework Monday. Those areas are now operating under the grey-lockdown level, which allows for the reopening of non-essential businesses with capacity limits in place.

Indoor and outdoor dining at restaurants, as well as the use of gyms and personal care services, remains off limits in this stage.

Meanwhile, York Region has been under the less restrictive red-control level since last Monday.

The city of Hamilton is also operating in the red level and recorded 81 new infections Tuesday, the province said.

There are 689 patients in hospital with COVID-19. Of those, 290 are being treated in an intensive care unit and 184 are on a ventilator.

Ontario’s COVID-19 variant case count grows

Another 29 cases of the COVID-19 variant known as B.1.1.7 were confirmed yesterday.

The case count for the variant, which was first discovered in the U.K., now stands at 908.

The number of B.1.351 (South African variant) and P.1 (Brazilian variant) infections in Ontario remain unchanged at 39 and 17, respectively.

Update on COVID-19 vaccinations

The province said that 276,193 people are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

So far, 943,533 doses have been administer with 31,047 of those needles going into arms in the last 24-hour period.