Ontario reports nearly 1,700 new COVID-19 cases, highest positivity rate since January
Posted March 22, 2021 10:20 am.
Last Updated March 22, 2021 3:19 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Ontario is reporting 1,699 new COVID-19 cases and 3 additional deaths on Monday.
It is the lowest daily increase in deaths this year and the sixth straight day with over 1,500 cases.
There were 31,089 tests completed in the last 24 hour period. This is down from the 49,200 tests completed a day ago. Testing numbers are typically down early in the week.
The province’s test positivity rate is up to 5.4 per cent. The highest number since Jan. 26.
Locally, there are 500 new cases in Toronto, 318 in Peel 155 in York Region and 114 in Hamilton.
There are 813 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in the province, and 298 in the ICU. Hospitalizations are up more than 100 patients since one week ago.
There were 31,335 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine administered in the last 24 hour period.
As of 8:00 p.m. Sunday, 1,553,040 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 299,297 people have been fully vaccinated.
Ontario residents who are 75 or older can start booking their COVID-19 vaccines through the government’s online system starting on Monday.
People in that age group were initially set to become eligible by the first week of April, but the province announced last week it was moving up the date, saying vaccinations are ahead of schedule.
Also starting today, certain pharmacies and family physicians in some regions will be allowed to administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot to anyone 60 or older.
Advanced trial data from a U.S. study on the AstraZeneca vaccine shows it is 79 per cent effective, the company announced Monday in long-awaited research that may answer some questions about the shot’s effectiveness in older populations.
AstraZeneca said its experts also identified no safety concerns related to the vaccine, including a rare blood clot that was identified in Europe. Experts found no increased risk of clots among the more than 20,000 people who got at least one dose of the AstraZeneca shot.
The latest provincial numbers confirm 53 additional cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK and an additional case of the B.1351 variant first detected in South Africa.
There are now 1,340 cumulative cases of the B.1.1.7 variant, 48 cases of the B 1.351 variant and 36 cases of the P.1 variant first detected in Brazil.
The province is reporting 13,228 cases where a mutation has been detected but the exact lineage cannot be determined.
Ontario reported 1,791 cases and 18 deaths on Sunday.
The rolling seven-day average increases to 1,600 cases. The last time the seven-day average was that high was Feb 4.
