Ontario reports 640 new cases of COVID-19, 10 additional deaths

Ontario eases capacity limits in some settings The Ontario government is easing restrictions on capacity limits settings where proof of vaccination is required.

TORONTO — Ontario health officials are reporting just under 650 new COVID-19 cases.

The province confirmed 640 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, as well as 10 more deaths due to the disease.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 629, down from 719 at this point last week.

With 33,303 tests processed in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health says the positivity rate in the province rose to 1.9 per cent.

Of the new infections reported Saturday, 485 cases involved people who are either unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or their vaccination status is unknown. The remaining 155 infections involved people who are fully vaccinated.

The province recorded 10 new deaths on Saturday, bringing the total death tally in the province to 9,698.

The province stated at least 323 people are in hospital due to COVID-19, including 50 people who are fully vaccinated and 273 people who are either not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

At least 178 patients are in intensive care in Ontario hospitals and 128 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

The province deemed 794 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Saturday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 567,994.

Today’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 583,275, including deaths and recoveries.

WHERE ARE THE NEW CASES?

Locally, there are 113 new cases in Toronto, 58 in York Region, 69 in Peel Region, 46 in Hamilton, 38 in Durham Region and 30 in the Region of Waterloo.

VARIANT OF CONCERN UPDATE

The Ministry of Health is reporting 178 new cases of the Delta variant, B.1.617.2, on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to 18,014.

Officials also reported two new cases of the Alpha variant, B.1.1.7., bringing the total number of Alpha cases to 146,457.

No new cases of the Beta variant, B.1.351, or the Gamma variant, P.1, were logged today.

VACCINATION UPDATE

The province said it administered 47,871 doses of COVID-19 vaccines Friday.

Throughout Ontario’s nine-month vaccination campaign, over 21.6 million needles have gone into arms.

As of today, 10,437,551 people have received both doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.