Ontario reports another 28 COVID-19 deaths, daily cases back to 4,000-plus

Ontario’s daily cases of COVID-19 topped 4,000 on Wednesday after dropping below that mark the day before, as another 28 virus-related deaths were recorded in the province.

Since the pandemic started last year in March, 7,610 people have died in Ontario due to the virus.

There were 4,156 new diagnoses, a rise from 3,670 cases on Tuesday. Nearly 62 per cent of the cases were in the GTA, with 1,254 in Toronto, 593 in Peel Region, 476 in York Region, and 248 in Durham Region.

The province recorded a positivity rate of 8.6 per cent — down from the pandemic high of 10.3 per cent the previous day. More than 54,000 tests were completed over the past 24 hours.

Health officials said 642 people out of 1,877 currently hospitalized were in intensive care units (ICU), and 442 of the ICU patients were on a ventilator.

As admissions to intensive care and cases of COVID-19 variants continue to rise, the province encountered some hiccups with the vaccine rollout due to limited supply. Bookings for COVID-19 vaccines have been paused or even cancelled in some hotspots in Toronto.

So far, the province has recorded nearly 25,000 cases of a variant of concern, with 24,467 of the cases being the variant first detected in the United Kingdom.

An additional 112,817 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine had been administered on Tuesday, as more than 337,000 Ontarians are now fully vaccinated.