Ontario reports 454 new cases of COVID-19, nine new deaths

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TORONTO — Ontario health officials are reporting 454 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday.

Officials recorded nine new deaths. The total number of COVID-19-related deaths in the province is now 9,912.

Today’s case count comes after officials logged 441 new cases on Tuesday, 480 new cases on Monday and 636 new cases on Sunday.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 502, up from 379 at this point last week.

With 33,364 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province stands at about 1.8 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Wednesday, 249 cases involved people who are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 205 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 148 people are in hospital due to COVID-19, including 61 people who are fully vaccinated and 87 people who are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

Of those hospitalized, the province says 75 patients are in intensive care due to COVID-19 — 59 of those patients are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated, while 16 are fully vaccinated.

The province deemed 414 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Wednesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 590,641.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 604,606, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

In the Greater Toronto Area, officials reported 42 new cases in Toronto, 33 new cases in Peel Region, 34 new cases in York Region and 11 new cases in Durham Region.

Outside of the GTA, Ottawa reported 43 new cases and Simcoe-Muskoka reported 38 new cases.

All other regions reported fewer than 30 new cases of the virus.

According to the province’s epidemiology report, of the 454 new infections reported on Wednesday, 81 cases were identified in children under the age of 12.

The province also recorded 40 cases in youths between the ages of 12 and 19 and another 138 cases in people between the ages of 20 and 39.

On Wednesday, 119 COVID-19 infections were found in schools across Ontario. Of the infections found in schools, 102 were recorded in students, 10 were in staff members and seven were in unidentified individuals.

There are 497 schools with at least one confirmed case and two facilities are currently closed as a result.

Officials also reported an additional 79 cases of the Delta variant in lab-confirmed COVID-19 tests. This brings the total number of cases to 21,973.

OVER 11.1M PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED IN ONTARIO

The province reports that 11,107,758 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 15,257 doses of the vaccine were administered to Ontario residents.

Just over 22.6 million vaccine doses have been administered in the province since the rollout began last year.