Ontario reports another 18 deaths due to COVID-19, daily cases top 1,300

Ontario reported 1,371 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, as the province expanded its pilot project to offer COVID-19 vaccines in pharmacies.

Another 18 people have died as a result of the virus, bringing the province death toll to 7,127.

Most of the new infections were in Toronto (371), Peel Region (225), York Region (111) and Hamilton (109).

The province tested 64,611 people since Thursday’s daily update and reported a test positivity rate of 2.4 per cent — the same as the previous day.

Health officials said an additional 43,503 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine were given since the previous daily update, bringing the total number of doses administered to 1,062,910.

Another 1,124 of people have recovered from the virus. However, 676 are currently in hospital and 282 of those patients are in intensive care.

In its latest modelling data on Thursday, officials said the variants of concern continue to spread across the province and controlling the rate of that spread will determine whether we return to normal or face a third wave.

An additional 56 cases of variants of concern were confirmed in the province on Friday, bringing the provincial total up to 1,081. Of those cases, 1,005 are of the variant first discovered in the United Kingdom, while 42 are the variant first found in South Africa and 34 of the variant strain first reported in Brazil.

RELATED: Ontario COVID-19 vaccine pilot rollout continues at more sites

The province has ramped up its vaccine rollout with more than 25 pharmacies in Toronto, Kingston and Windsor set to administer the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine starting on Friday.

Residents aged 60 to 64 as of the day of vaccination or if you will be or have been 60 to 64 in 2021, with the birth years 1957 to 1961, will be eligible to book an appointment with one of the pharmacies.

Meanwhile, Sudbury moved back into lockdown on Friday due to a large spike in COVID-19 cases.

The provincial government said the region’s case rates increased by 54 per cent between March 3 and March 9, to 75.9 cases per 100,000 people.

The province used its “emergency brake” mechanism to place the region — which had been in the second-strictest “red-control” category of the province’s pandemic restrictions framework — into lockdown.

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With files from The Canadian Press