Ontario reports fewer than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases for first time in weeks

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TORONTO — Ontario health officials are reporting fewer than 3,000 new COVID-19 cases for the first time since the beginning of April.

The province confirmed 2,791 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Tuesday. The last time the province reported fewer than 3,000 new cases was on April 5 before the height of the third wave.

The dip in daily infections today comes after the province logged 3,436 cases on Monday, 3,732 new cases on Sunday and 3,369 new cases on Saturday.

Ontario’s rolling seven-day average now stands at 3,509, down from 3,887 at this point last week.

The positivity rate in the province remained high on Tuesday. With 33,740 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the positivity rate stands at 9.1 per cent.

Health officials also reported that 25 more people have died due to COVID-19. In total, the province has seen 8,143 deaths related to the novel coronavirus.

There are currently more than 2,167 people in hospital due to the disease. At least 886 of these patients are in intensive care and 609 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

The province deemed 3,323 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Tuesday, bringing Ontario’s number of recovered patients up to 432,109.

Tuesday’s report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 476,692, including deaths and recoveries.

Where are the COVID-19 cases in Ontario?

Most of the new cases reported are concentrated in hot spot regions in the Greater Toronto Area. Officials reported 931 new cases in Toronto, 653 in Peel Region and 275 in York Region.

Several other regions reported new infection totals in the triple digits, including Durham Region (147), Hamilton (128), Ottawa (112), and Halton Region (101).

The Ontario government entered a provincewide stay-at-home order last month in order to curb the spread of the deadly disease. The order is expected to last at least until May 20.

Variants in Ontario

The province reported 2,303 new cases of the B.1.1.7 (U.K. variant) in Ontario on Tuesday. The total case count for the strain now stands at 77,649.

Officials identified eight new cases of the B.1.351 (South African variant), and so the total case count in the province rose to 309.

In addition, the province added 51 more cases of the P.1 (Brazilian variant), which brings its total number of cases to 971.

Ontario does not currently report how many cases of the B.1.617 variant, originally found in India, are found in the province.

More than 378K people fully vaccinated in Ontario

The province reports that 378,085 people in Ontario have received both doses of a COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered vaccinated against the disease.

In the last 24-hour period, officials said that 88,871 doses of the vaccine were administered to residents in the province.

On Monday, people 18 and older living in the 114 specific neighbourhoods, which have been designated as COVID-19 hot spots, were able to book their vaccine using the provincial booking system for the first time.

The province has repeatedly said they have the capacity to administer about 150,000 vaccines a day.