Ontario sees second-highest daily COVID case total, full data to be released on Wednesday

The case count in the province may be high but the situation in hospitals is manageable. Maleeha Sheikh speaks to medical experts on why there isn't a reason to be alarmed right now, as long as people do the right thing.

By Nick Westoll

Posted December 26, 2021 11:18 am.

Last Updated December 26, 2021 7:23 pm.

Ontario’s health minister says the province has recorded 9,826 COVID-19 new cases, marking the second-highest daily total since the pandemic began.

However, the full set of data, including information on testing volumes, isn’t set to be released by the government until Wednesday due to the holidays.

According to an update posted on Twitter Sunday morning by Christine Elliott, 373 people are in Ontario hospitals due to COVID-19 — down from 510 reported the day before. She added not all hospitals provide updates on holidays or weekends.

When it comes to patients in provincial intensive care units, she said there are 168 patients — an increase of one person compared to the previous day.

Meanwhile, Public Health Ontario released a report saying seven more people have died of the virus — bringing the total number of deaths up to 10,156.

There were also 1,796 cases deemed resolved by the agency on Sunday, elevating the cumulative total to 630,466. There have been 697,162 confirmed COVID-19 cases to date in Ontario.

Toronto saw the highest number of cases out of all of Ontario’s public health units with 2,768 new confirmed infections. York Region and Ottawa followed with 903 and 867 new cases, respectively. Peel Region had 813 new cases while Halton Region had 510 and Durham Region had 422.

With respect to vaccinations, Elliott said more than 106,000 doses were administered on Friday and Saturday.

Currently, she said 90.7 per cent of Ontario residents 12 and older have one dose while 88 per cent have two doses. Information on vaccinations for children five to 11 as well as data on boosters weren’t tweeted out.

The information came after Public Health Ontario reported on Saturday that the province saw 10,412 infections, which is the highest since the pandemic began.

The new seven-day average of cases is 6,746, which is up from 3,153 on Saturday.

With the data posted on Sunday, the new seven-day average of cases is 3,520 — up from 5,939 on Saturday.

Experts said they believe the number of new cases in Ontario, fuelled by the spread of the Omicron variant, is higher than what is being reported due to a backlog in COVID-19 testing.

— With files from Michael Ranger

In Ontario, 26,449,368 vaccine doses have been administered. A total of over 106,000 doses were administered on Christmas Eve & Christmas Day.

Thank you, #TeamOntario, for getting shots into arms this holiday season.

90.7% of Ontarians 12+ have one dose & 88.0% have two doses.

— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) December 26, 2021