Ontario reports more than 700 new COVID-19 cases

Ontario is reporting 748 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday as the rolling seven-day average increases for a 25th consecutive day.

The weekly average of new infections now sits at 692, up nearly 100 cases from one week ago and reaching the highest point since late September.

The province is also reporting a net four additional deaths due to the virus. There were six new deaths but two were removed from the system due to a data clean-up.

Ontario reported 711 new cases last Thursday.

Among the new cases, 375 are in people who are not fully vaccinated and 44 are in individuals with an unknown vaccination status. Residents who are not fully vaccinated represent just under 24 per cent of the province’s population and just over 50 per cent of Thursday’s new infections.

There are 257 people in the province hospitalized with COVID-19 and 137 in the ICU. ICU occupancy remains stable from a day ago and has remained relatively flat despite the surge in new cases through November.

Among the individuals in the ICU, 127 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.

An additional 12,566 vaccine doses were administered in the last 24-hour period, 89 per cent of Ontarians 12 and older have now received one dose and 86.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.

Health Minister Christine Elliott said 101,000 COVID-19 vaccine appointments had been booked for kids between the ages of five and 11 by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

The City of Toronto’s pediatric vaccine campaign is picked up on Thursday with five kid-friendly clinics and others happening in schools and communities.

Bookings opened for kids in that age group on Tuesday morning and 10 children who are patients with SickKids hospital in Toronto became the first in the province to receive the pediatric Pfizer-BioNTech doses later that day.