Ontario reports 1,536 new cases of COVID-19, positivity rate hits 5.5 per cent

Omicron spreading in Ont. at 'unprecedented' speed The head of Ontario's Science Table says he thinks Omicron will become the dominant variant in the province this week.

Another 1,536 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ontario on Monday as the positivity rate for the disease in the province reaches its highest level in months.

Of the new infections logged, 809 were found in fully vaccinated individuals, 601 were found in those who are unvaccinated, and 33 were found in partially vaccinated individuals. The vaccination status of the remaining 93 cases is unknown.

Monday’s report brings Ontario’s seven-day average for the number of cases reported to 1,328. A week ago that number was 940 and a week before that it was 783.

With 38,331 tests processed in the last 24 hours, Ontario’s COVID-19 positivity rate sits at 5.5 per cent -- the highest level recorded since May 25 when it reached 6.2 per cent.

Ontario has logged 633,683 lab-confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including 612,066 recoveries and 10,079 deaths.

Right now, there are 253 people in hospital with COVID-19 and 161 patients are in intensive care. The vaccination status of those hospitalized with an illness related to the novel coronavirus was not made available by the province.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

According to data provided by the province, most of the cases logged Monday were found in Toronto (255), Kingston (142), York Region (139), and Ottawa (116).

Other areas that reported high case numbers include Peel Region (89), Windsor-Essex (82), Halton Region (75), and Simcoe Muskoka (73).

An additional 214 infections were reported in schools across the province. Those cases involve 189 students and 23 staff members. The two remaining cases were not identified.

At least 944 of the province’s 4,844 schools have a confirmed case of COVID-19 and 20 facilities are closed as a result.

UPDATE ON VACCINATIONS

Health Minister Christine Elliott said that as of today, 90.3 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have received a COVID-19 vaccine and 87.6 per cent have received two doses.

Throughout the province’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign -- which began one year ago tomorrow -- 24,484,629 shots have been administered.