Ontario reports dip in COVID-19 cases after four days above 150 mark

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TORONTO — After four straight days of new COVID-19 case counts above 150, the number of infections in Ontario has dipped yet again.

On Monday, health officials reported 119 new cases of COVID-19, as well as three additional deaths related to the disease.

The new infections bring the seven-day rolling average of daily cases to about 157, up slightly from 152 the previous week.

Ontario reported 172 cases on Sunday, 170 on Saturday, 192 on Friday and 185 on Thursday.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogoch told CP24 on Monday that a rise in cases isn’t unexpected as restrictions are eased in Ontario.

"I think whenever you see a rise in cases, whenever you see a bump in the seven-day average, you can never ignore it. It is important to watch obviously [but] you don't panic, you don't have to get too, too, too concerned just yet but you still have to watch it and take it seriously," he said.

"It is probably a real trend, it probably is. I think the question is how big will it get?"

Ontario moved to Step 3 of the province’s reopening plan on July 16, allowing indoor dining to return and facilities like movie theatres and gyms to open their doors.

While cases appeared to be rising for a few days, the number of patients in Ontario’s intensive care units (ICU) continues to decline.

The Ministry of Health says there are 95 people being treated for the disease in the province’s ICUs. However, that number rises to 131 when patients who are still being treated for the after effects of COVID-19 are taken into account.

Seventy-nine are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

The total number of lab-confirmed positive COVID-19 cases in Ontario now stands at 549,447, including 9,316 deaths and 538,702 recoveries.

According to the Ministry of Health, with just over 11,900 COVID-19 tests processed in the last 24-hour period, the positivity rate in Ontario now stands at about one per cent.

WHERE ARE THE NEW COVID-19 CASES?

Of the new cases reported on Monday, 22 were located in Toronto, while 15 were in Hamilton, 14 in Waterloo and 13 in Peel Region.

Thirteen public health units reported no cases of COVID-19 while 15 reported fewer than five new infections.

Nineteen additional cases of the Alpha B.1.1.7. variant were identified in lab-positive tests across Ontario in the last 24-hour period. This brings the total number of cases to 145,405.

There were also three more cases of the Delta B.1.617 variant identified in the province.

MORE THAN 8.6 MILLION PEOPLE FULLY VACCINATED

In the last 24-hour period, the province administered 65,920 doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

This brings the total number of shots into arms to just over 19 million.

There are 8,625,932 people who have received both doses of COVID-19 vaccine and are considered fully vaccinated.