Ontario reports more than 3,700 new COVID-19 cases as positivity rate increases

Debating Canada's travel restrictions Dr. Zain Chagla says some measures don't make sense and are inconsistent.

TORONTO — Ontario is reporting an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases as new infections jump back above 3,700.

Health officials confirmed 3,732 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, which is 363 more cases than what was reported on Saturday.

Ontario's test positivity rate also increased on Sunday to 8.5 per cent. In the previous 24-hour period, 45,301 tests were completed.

Ontario's test positivity rate had remained below eight per cent the past four days.

The number of people in intensive care units dropped slightly on Sunday, after reaching 900 on the previous day.

There are now 895 people receiving care in intensive care due to COVID-19. Of those intensive care unit patients, 615 are breathing with the assistance of a ventilator.

As of Sunday, there are 1,961 people hospitalized due to COVID-19 in Ontario.

Ontario logged 23 additional COVID-19-related deaths in the previous 24-hour period, which bring the total number of fatalities to 8,102.

The province also deemed 3,947 more cases of the disease to be resolved as of Sunday, bringing Ontario's number of recovered patients up to 425,163.

Sunday's report brings the total number of lab-confirmed cases in Ontario to 470,465 including deaths and recoveries.

Where are the new COVID-19 cases?

Health officials reported 1,198 new COVID-19 cases in Toronto and 797 new infections in Peel Region on Sunday.

In York Region, there are 306 new cases, while in Durham Region there are 232.

The other health regions reporting new case loads in the triple digits include Hamilton (237), Ottawa (180), Simcoe-Muskoka (102) , Niagara (119), and Halton Region (129).

Meanwhile, Ontario confirmed an additional 2,871 cases of the B.1.1.7. COVID-19 variant on Sunday, bringing the total number to 72,313.

Officials also recorded an additional 103 cases of the P.1. strain and 10 of the B.1.351 mutation.

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

The province reports that 375,180 people in Ontario have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine and are now considered immunized against the disease.

In the last 24-hour period, officials said that 76,685 doses of the vaccine were administered to residents in the province. The province has repeatedly said it has the capacity to administer 150,000 doses per day.

There have been 5,324,369 doses administered since vaccines became available.