Ontario reports over 900 new COVID cases as province prepares to expand booster shot eligibility
Posted December 2, 2021 10:18 am.
Last Updated December 2, 2021 4:51 pm.
Ontario is reporting yet another significant spike in daily COVID-19 cases, with 959 new infections confirmed on Thursday along with seven additional deaths.
It’s the highest one-day total since Sunday when officials reported 964 cases of the virus.
The seven-day average crept over 800 for the first time in several months as daily infections jumped to 851 as of Thursday. The province opened the month of November with a rolling seven-day average of 362.
Ontario reported 780 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday and six more deaths due to the virus.
Health Minister Christine Elliott confirmed the province hit “a major vaccine milestone” on Thursday as 90 per cent of Ontarians 12-and-up have now received one vaccine dose.
“This huge step in Ontario’s vaccination plan is thanks to the incredible efforts of all levels of government, public health units, health care partners and the millions of Ontarians who have stepped up to get vaccinated,” Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in a joint news release.
“Thank you to those organizations that helped us get vaccines distributed quickly and efficiently to all parts of the province, and to the dedicated healthcare providers and frontline workers for getting vaccines into the arms of Ontarians.”
Over 90% of Ontarians 12+ have received at least one dose of the #COVID19 vaccine. Keep it up, Ontario! Our best protection against the virus is to be fully vaccinated.
Eligible Ontarians can also book an appointment to receive their booster. Book today: https://t.co/IcpDOgxrLu pic.twitter.com/Y7EG4t7fbd
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 2, 2021
Elliott says 87.2 per cent have received two shots. The Health Minister also confirmed 291 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, and 241 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status. Fifty patients have received two doses.
“Individuals who are not fully vaccinated represent 23.5 per cent of Ontario’s total population and amount to 469 of Ontario’s 959 new reported cases,” Elliott wrote on Twitter.
“61 cases are in individuals with an unknown vaccination status.”
Toronto reported 118 new cases on Thursday — a slight increase in daily COVID-19 infections within the public health unit. The city has recorded over 90 new daily cases for just under a week. Meanwhile, Peel Region saw a notable jump in cases with 75 confirmed today; that’s up from 38 on Wednesday.
York Region is reporting 53 new cases with 42 in Halton and 21 in Durham. The public health unit in Windsor-Essex recorded the second-highest daily tally in Ontario with 91 new cases today followed by 75 infections reported in Simcoe-Muskoka. There are 59 new cases in Ottawa and 27 in Hamilton.
Ontario also announced 164 additional cases across its many schools with 148 of them involving students. There are currently 10 schools closed as a result of a COVID-19 outbreak and 761 schools reporting at least one case of the virus.
The province says a booster shot update will be announced this afternoon by Ontario’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Kieran Moore.
With the delta variant of COVID-19 pushing up cases in Europe and growing fears over the omicron variant, governments worldwide are weighing new measures for populations tired of hearing about restrictions and vaccines.
Ontario confirmed its first cases of the variant over the weekend. Cases have also been documented in British Columbia, Alberta and Québec.
RELATED: Omicron – What we know and don’t know about the new COVID variant
The provincial government has not provided further details, but several media reports citing unnamed sources say the eligibility age for vaccine boosters will be lowered to 50.
Dr. Madhukar Pai of McGill University’s School of Population and Public Health said that masks are an easy and pain-free way of keeping COVID-19 transmission down, but that cheap, at-home tests need to be much more widespread in both rich and developing countries.
Lockdowns, he said, should be the very last choice.
“Lockdowns only come up when a system is failing,” Pai said. “We do it when the hospital system is about to collapse. It’s a last resort that indicates you have failed to do all the right things.”
With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press
