Ontario records 500-plus new cases of COVID-19 for second straight day

For the second straight day, Ontario is reporting more than 500 new cases of COVID-19.

Provincial health officials confirmed 508 new infections on Saturday, down from the 563 cases reported Friday.

Of those new cases, 290 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown status while 218 are individuals who are fully vaccinated.

It’s the first time since the beginning of October that more than 500 new cases have been reported on back-to-back days. A year ago at this time the province was dealing with more than 1,000 new cases

For the sixth straight day, the seven-day average of new cases continued to climb. It now sits at 425 where a week ago it was at 352.

It’s been almost two weeks since Premier Doug Ford lifted capacity limits for restaurants and bars, and other settings where proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required, as part of the provinces gradual lifting of pandemic restrictions.

There were no additional deaths reported due to COVID-19 on Saturday, leaving the provincial total at 9,896.

Health officials say there are 203 people hospitalized with COVID-19, 151 of those are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown status. Of those hospitalized, 130 are in the ICU with 115 of those individuals not fully vaccinated or having an unknown status.

Only 8,809 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were administered on Friday – the second time in less than a week that fewer than 10,000 doses have been given out. A “technical issue” prevented health officials from releasing vaccine data until later in the day.

The province completed 30,145 tests in the last 24-hour period – the fourth straight day more than 30,000 tests were processed. For the third straight day the positivity rate increased, now sitting at 1.9 per cent.

On Saturday, almost 3 million Ontarians became eligible for a COVID-19 booster shot, including anyone over 70 years of age, a front-line healthcare worker or anyone part of a first nation and indigenous community. As well any residents who received two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine also qualifies for a booster. You must be six months removed since the last dose was administered.

The province is planning to eventually offer booster doses to everyone, and is eyeing early 2022 to start the broader rollout.