Ontario reports highest daily COVID-19 case increase since early October

Ontario health officials are confirming 666 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday with seven new deaths. It’s the highest daily coronavirus case count since October 2, when the province reported 704 new infections.

Of Sunday’s new cases, Health Minister Christine Elliott says 366 are in individuals who are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status and 300 are in fully vaccinated individuals. There are 126 people hospitalized with COVID-19, and 133 people are in ICU. Not all hospitals report their data on weekends, Elliott notes. 

The seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 infections has risen steadily, now at 563, increasing from 426 recorded last weekend. Two weeks ago, Ontario’s seven-day rolling average was 349.

The latest public health data shows 76 new COVID-19 cases in Toronto with Simcoe-Muskoka reporting the second-highest daily increase with 68 new infections on Sunday. There are 42 confirmed cases in Peel, 41 in York, and 34 in Durham Regions.

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The province’s effective reproduction number — the average number of additional infections caused by one infection — continues to grow at 1.21 as of this week. The R(t) was 0.87 one month ago during the week of Oct. 13 to Oct. 19.

Elliott says 88.7 per cent of Ontarians 12-and-up have one vaccine dose and 85.5 per cent have received two shots.

Ontario logged 661 COVID-19 cases and six more virus-related deaths on Saturday.

The latest projections from the COVID-19 Science Advisory Table indicate intensive care occupancy will likely rise in Ontario over the coming months as COVID case numbers continue to increase.

The new modelling published Friday from the science table noted that hospitalizations and intensive care numbers are currently stable, but intensive care admissions will likely total around 200 patients by the new year.

Ontario also reported 598 new COVID-19 cases and four deaths from the virus on Friday, marking over a week of growth in the province’s seven-day average for new infections.