Ontario sets vaccination record for 2nd straight day, reports lowest positivity rate since Oct.

Ontario is reporting 370 new COVID-19 cases and 7 additional deaths on Thursday.

The province is reporting a test positivity rate of 1.3 per cent, down from 2 per cent one week ago. It is the lowest positivity rate reported since Oct. 2.

There were 30,454 tests completed in the last 24-hour period.

Locally, there are 67 new cases in Toronto, 57 in Waterloo, 47 in Peel, 34 in Ottawa and 27 in York Region.

There were another 635 resolved cases, dropping the active case count once again. Resolved cases have outnumbered new infections each day since mid-April.

The province’s active case count has dropped below 5,000 on Wednesday for the first time since Oct. 1.

The province reported 384 cases and 12 deaths on Wednesday.

The rolling seven-day average has dropped to 443, reaching the lowest point since late September.

There are now 397 people hospitalized in the province with 362 in the ICU. Hospitalizations are down more than 100 since one week ago and ICU numbers have dropped nearly 100 in the last week. Hospitalizations have fallen below 400 for the first time since November.

Graphics courtesy of @jkwan_md

There were 210,611 vaccine doses administered in the last 24-hour period. It is the second straight day the province has set a daily vaccination record.

As of 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, 11,943,025 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 74 per cent of Ontarians over the age of 12 have received at least one dose, while 18.3 per cent of residents over 12 are now fully vaccinated.

Ontario will be updating its COVID-19 vaccination plan on Thursday amid complaints about a lack of available appointments as second dose eligibility expanded in Delta hotspots.

Health Minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones will be providing the update from Queen’s Park at 1 p.m.

Graphics courtesy of @jkwan_md

There are growing calls from many to speed up reopening in the province with vaccinations rates climbing and new cases staying low.

Some experts are cautioning that the province needs to exercise caution with the Delta variant on the rise, with some saying the province needs to do more to ensure doses are being allocated to Delta hot spots.

Before Step 2 of the province’s reopening plan can begin on July 2, 70 per cent of Ontario adults need to have received at least one dose, and 20 per cent need to have received both doses. The province has already surpassed the first vaccination threshold and is on pace to reach 80 per cent by early July.

Based on current daily vaccinations, Ontario is on pace to meet the 20 per cent fully vaccinated threshold by the week of June 21.