Ontario reports slight increase in new COVID-19 cases, per cent positivity rate rises

Can Ontario reach 90 per cent vaccinated? Ontario's Chief Medical Officer of Health says that if 90 per cent of eligible Ontarians are vaccinated we can move into the endemic stage.

TORONTO — Ontario is reporting a slight increase in new COVID-19 cases on Sunday as the province's per cent positivity rate rises.

Officials are reporting 172 new cases of COVID-19 today with two additional deaths.

The province reported 170 new cases on Saturday and 192 on Friday.

The seven-day rolling average remains at 159, compared to 153 a week ago.

Provincial labs processed more than 13,902 test specimens, generating a positivity rate of at least 1.1 per cent, according to the Ministry of Health.

The province’s virus-related death toll stands at 9,313.

Another 144 people recovered from the disease yesterday, resulting in 1,450 active cases across the province.

Right now, there are 88 people in hospital current infected with COVID-19 and 127 patients being treated in intensive care, according to the Ministry of Health.

The hospitalization data presented by the province has been skewed over the past several weeks, which may be explained by a delay in patient reporting.

Where are the new cases?

Officials are reporting 48 new cases in Toronto, 23 in Peel Region, 11 in Durham Region and 11 in Hamilton.

Update on COVID-19 variants of concern

The Ministry of Health is reporting 131 new cases of the Alpha variant Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the province to ​​145,386.

Officials reported 16 new cases of Delta variant, B.1.617.2, Sunday and the case total is now 3,913.

Three cases of the Beta variant, B.1.351, were also recorded. So far, there have been a total of 1,492 cases of the Beta variant reported in Ontario.

As for the Gamma variant, P.1, two new cases were recorded today. The total number of Gamma variants recorded in Ontario is now 5,142.

Vaccination update

The province said it administered 103,812 doses of COVID-19 vaccines Saturday.

Throughout Ontario’s seven-month vaccination campaign, over 18.9 million needles have gone into arms.

As of Sunday, 8,569,752 people have received both doses and are considered to be fully vaccinated.