Ontario sees 340 new COVID-19 cases — the most since late June

Ontario reported 340 new cases of COVID-19 this morning, the most on a single day since June 26 and a considerable jump relative to recent Fridays. 

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Because testing levels in the province are cyclical on a weekly basis, it’s usually most informative to compare the same days of the week.

Last Friday, Ontario logged 226 further infections, and the Friday before that saw 192 reported.

The seven-day average of daily cases rose to 216, its highest point in just more than a month.

The additional cases today include 80 in Toronto, 41 in York Region, 36 in Peel Region, 23 in Windsor-Essex and 22 in Waterloo Region.

The Ministry of Health also recorded the deaths of 18 more people with the illness. A spokesperson said, however, that 16 of those deaths happened “more than six weeks ago” and were included in today’s update as part of a data clean up by Public Health Ontario.

Among those who died was a person under the age of 19, the spokesperson said — the fifth death in that age bracket since the pandemic began.

Here are some other key pandemic indicators and figures from the ministry’s daily provincial report:

Tests completed: 23,448

Provincewide test positivity rate: 1.4 per cent, marking nine consecutive days above 1 per cent

Current number of active cases: 1,879

Patients in ICU with COVID-related illnesses: 110; 76 needed a ventilator to breathe

Death toll: 9,392

Vaccinations progress: 53,975, the fewest shots administered on a Thursday since March 10. Roughly 71.4 per cent of Ontarians aged 12 and older have had two doses.

CBC