Ontario reports more than 900 new infections, 7-day average continues to climb
Posted December 7, 2021 10:15 am.
Last Updated December 7, 2021 12:31 pm.
Ontario is reporting 928 new COVID-19 cases and nine additional deaths on Tuesday.
It is the second straight day below 1,000 cases, after the province reported three days in a row of more than 1,000 new infections.
The rolling seven-day average of cases is now 974, up nearly 200 cases from one week ago. The province reported 687 new cases last Tuesday.
Ontarians who are not fully vaccinated represent 23.3 per cent of the province’s population and account for more than half of the new cases — 77 cases are in individuals with an unknown vaccination status.
There were more than 26,000 tests completed in the last 24-hour period for a test positivity rate of 3.8 per cent. It is the highest positivity rate the province has reported in more than six months.
As cases continue to surge, hospitalization and ICU numbers remain relatively flat. There are currently 340 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and 165 in the ICU.
Among those in the ICU, 146 are not fully vaccinated or have an unknown vaccination status.
Ontario’s science advisory table released new modelling on Tuesday, the panel warned Ontario’s already-depleted ICU system “will have trouble responding” to a predicted surge of winter COVID-19 cases.
Even without taking into account the spread of the new Omicron variant, the Science Table projects ICU occupancy will likely grow to 250-400 beds in January, putting hospitals under strain to keep up.
