Ontario reports more than 1,600 new COVID-19 cases, 45 deaths while citing 'overestimation' in Toronto

Shiromali Krishnaraj, right, arrives from India and receives a mandatory COVID-19 test at Pearson International Airport during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Monday, February 1, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — Ontario reported more than 1,600 new cases of COVID-19 Friday and 45 more deaths related to the disease while citing an “overestimation” in Toronto’s count due to a data migration.

The 1,670 new cases mark an increase over Thursday’s total when 1,563 were reported. Of the new cases logged today, 125 stem from the aforementioned data migration.

This brings Ontario’s lab-confirmed COVID-19 case total to 275,330, including 6,438 deaths and 253,170 recoveries. Fourteen of the deaths recorded in the previous day involved residents of a long-term care home.

With 62,710 tests processed in the last 24 hours, the province’s positivity rate is 2.5 per cent, according to government.

The seven-day average for number of cases reported stands at 1,575, down significantly from the 2,010 logged a week ago today.

Right now, there are 15,722 active cases of the novel coronavirus in Ontario.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Most of the new cases were found in Toronto (667), Peel Region (317) and York Region (125).

The only other area to report case numbers in the triple digits Friday was Halton Region with 100 new infections.

Several other regions recorded case numbers in the mid to low double digits.

There are currently 1,043 people in hospital with COVID-19. Of those patients, 325 are being treated in an intensive care unit and 225 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

Update on vaccinations in Ontario

As of Friday, 87,831 people in Ontario are considered to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 after receiving their first and second shots.

Since inoculations began in December, the province has administered 362,749 shots of vaccine with 7,694 needles going into arms Thursday.