Ontario reports highest daily COVID-19 case count in 6 weeks
Ontario is reporting 661 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the highest daily increase of infections in six weeks.
The seven-day average of daily infections now sits at 559 cases, reaching the highest point since Oct. 7.
The province is reporting an additional six deaths as a result of the virus.
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Among the new cases, 388 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 273 are in fully vaccinated individuals.
There were 26,456 tests completed in the last 24-hour period, for a test positivity rate of 2.4 per cent.
There are 263 people hospitalized with COVID-19 across the province with 131 people in the ICU.
Among the hospitalizations, 194 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Of the ICU patients, 118 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
Another 18,138 vaccine doses were administered over the last 24 hours, more than 88 per cent of eligible Ontarians have received one dose and more than 85 per cent are fully vaccinated.
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In the latest pandemic modelling released on Friday, Ontario’s COVID-19 science advisory table is projecting a weakening correlation between case counts and ICU admissions thanks to the effectiveness of vaccines on more severe cases of the virus.
The panel says that despite hospital numbers remaining stable amid a recent surge in cases — ICU occupancy will start to rise and could reach 250 by the end of the year.
That still leaves the projected ICU numbers well off the number of admissions the province saw during the peak of the second and third waves of the pandemic.
“Even if we have a certain rise, it will not be associated with the same amount of beds occupied in the hospitals as before,” said the table’s scientific director, Dr. Peter Juni. “Because of the absolutely successful vaccine rollout.”
In the most likely scenario, the seven-day average of infections will approach 700 by the end of November. A worst case scenario would see daily case counts approaching 1,000 by the end of the month.
