Ontario reports less than 700 new COVID-19 cases, 2 additional deaths

Ontario is reporting 654 new cases of COVID-19 – the first time in seven days the case count has surpassed 600.

A week ago at this, there were just slightly more than 700 new cases reported.

Of those cases, 464 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

There are 153 people in the ICU due to COVID-19 and 139 of them are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

The seven day rolling average of new cases has now fallen to 544, the lowest its been since August 21.

Toronto recorded 123 new cases – its highest single-day total in a week. Peel Region added 80 new infections while York Region reported 66 new cases, the most in a single day since September 23.

An additional two deaths were reported, raising the provincial total to 9,788.

Health officials say 37,715 vaccine doses were administered on Friday – the third day in the last four more than 30,000 shots were given. There are now 86.9 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older who have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 82.1 per cent are now fully vaccinated.

The province completed 31,123 tests in the last 24-hour period for a test positivity rate of 1.8 per cent, which remained unchanged over the previous day.

As the number of new cases has remained relatively stable over the past several weeks, the province has opted to lift capacity limits on a number of venues and events.

As of today, cinemas, theatres, concert, sports venues, and horse racing tracks across Ontario can operate at 100 per cent capacity to individuals who show proof they have been fully vaccinated. The limits remain in place for gyms and restaurants, even though their patrons must also show that they’ve been vaccinated.