Ontario is reporting 1,563 new cases of COVID-19 today, with Toronto reporting the lowest positivity rate in months.
Toronto Public health officials have not verified if today’s data is accurate due to the migration of the COVID-19 tracking system earlier this week.
The Niagara Region reported 38 new cases today, an increase from yesterday’s report of 53.
There were also 88 new deaths reported in the province today. There have been 6,393 COVID-19 deaths in Ontario to date.
Niagara Region reported four new COVID-19 deaths on Tuesday. In total, 336 people have died from the coronavirus in the region.
“Ontario is reporting 1,563 cases of #COVID19 and nearly 64,500 tests completed. Locally, there are 584 new cases in Toronto, 265 in Peel and 132 in York Region,” said Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott on Thursday morning.
Public health units in Ontario also reporting higher case numbers include Hamilton with 78 new cases, Halton Region with 58 new cases, Simcoe-Muskoka with 55 cases, and Waterloo with 51. Other public health units reported 50 cases or less.
Vaccine doses administered in Ontario and Niagara
More than 9,133 vaccine doses were administered in Canada bringing the total number of vaccines administered so far across the country to more than 1,010,120. That means that 2.301 per cent of the Canadian population has received at least one dose of the vaccine
Over 6,724 of yesterday’s doses were given in Ontario, for a total of approximately 355,055 administered across the province so far. That’s 2.408 per cent of the provincial population.
Approximately 171 new doses were administered as of Thursday morning. A total of 4,807 doses have been administered in the region by Niagara Public Health in long-term care homes and high-risk retirement homes.
A total of 4,807 people have been vaccinated in Niagara Region by Niagara Public Health. Niagara Health says it has administered 2,417 vaccinations to health care staff.
The total number of vaccinations in the region is at 7,224. Against a population of 447,888 (2016 census), that means about 1.613 per cent of the region’s residents have been vaccinated so far.
Niagara Region trends
The Niagara Region numbers remain under 100 so far this week after numbers last week’s numbers teetered above and below. Today’s numbers dropped slightly from yesterday’s report of 53, but more in line with the 34 cases that were reported on Tuesday, the same as the last lowest daily case count reported on Dec. 22 when 34 cases were reported.
Case numbers over the weekend and this week remained under the daily record of 471 cases on Jan. 11, the largest single-day jump ever seen in the region due in part to a backlog of cases being updated. Numbers also remained below the previous daily record of 196 reported on Friday, Jan. 8.
The death count went up by eight on Tuesday, eight on Wednesday, and four on Thursday. This brings the total number of deaths to 336. Deaths are reported three times per week by NRPH on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
1,101 cases in Ontario hospitals
Ontario has now had 273,660 total cases, with 250,937 cases resolved. There are 1,101 cases in hospitals, with 323 in intensive care and 241 on ventilators.
Hospitalized cases increased by 35, the number of those in intensive care decreased by 13, and patients on ventilators decreased by 13 since Wednesday.
The total number of confirmed cases in the Niagara Region now at 8,062 with 6,811 resolved. Of those cases, there are 915 active cases, decreasing by 48 since Wednesday and 45 active outbreaks, up by four since Wednesday.
West Niagara COVID-19 active cases
Note: Population numbers in brackets are Niagara Info’ estimates against growth over 2016 census numbers.
Grimsby 11.9 per 10,000 people (population: 28,500 = 35 cases)
Lincoln 20.1 per 10,000 people (population: 24,500 = 49 cases)
Pelham 16.1 per 10,000 people (population: 17,500 = 30 cases)
Wainfleet 8.9 per 10,000 people (population: 6,500 = 6 cases)
West Lincoln 17.1 per 10,000 people (population: 14,500 = 29 cases)
Additional Niagara Region active COVID-19 cases
Fort Erie 18.9 per 10,000 people (population: ~33,000 = 75 cases)
Niagara Falls 19.1 per 10,000 people (population: ~90,000 = 199 cases)
NOTL 31.3 per 10,000 people (population: ~18,000 = 59 cases)
Port Colborne 5.8 per 10,000 people (population: ~19,000 = 11 cases)
St. Catharines 29.3 per 10,000 people (population: ~133,000 = 423 cases)
Thorold 19.4 per 10,000 people (population: ~20,000 = 45 cases)
Welland 17.4 per 10,000 people (population: ~55,000 = 97 cases)
Learn More:
COVID cases in Niagara schools
Niagara Region’s COVID-19 stats
Ontario’s COVID-19 stats
Federal government’s COVID-19 tracker app