Ontario will be releasing its COVID-19 fall preparedness plan over several days this week, as the province reported 425 new cases today — the highest daily increase since June 5 when 455 cases were reported, and the third increase over 400 in the last four days.
Health minister Christine Elliott confirmed the “imminent” release of the plan during Question Period at Queen’s Park on Monday (September 21) and afterwards at a media conference with Premier Doug Ford and associate chief medical officer of health Dr. Barbara Yaffe, where Ford called on the federal government to provide the provinces and territories with an additional $28 billion in federal transfer payments for health care.
Elliott said the plan will address COVID-19 testing volumes and lab capacity to process tests, while accommodating flu season and preparing for a possible surge in cases in hospitals and long-term care facilities.
“We have planned for the worst and are ready for it, and everything else in-between,” Elliott said. “We are looking forward to sharing this plan with the people of Ontario.”
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (175), Peel (84), and Ottawa (60), with smaller increases reported in York (20), Durham (14), Waterloo (13), Halton (12), Simcoe Muskoka (9), Hamilton (8), Middlesex-London (7), and Windsor-Essex (7). The remaining 23 public health units in Ontario are reporting five or fewer cases, with 14 reporting no new cases.
Of today’s new cases, 67% are among people under the age of 40. The percentage of resolved cases has dropped to 87%, from a high of 90.8% in early August. There have been 2 new deaths, with no significant changes to the number of hospitalizations, patients admitted to ICU, or patients on ventilators. The backlog of tests under investigation has decreased by 5,182 to 32,489.
There are 18 new cases identified in Ontario schools (8 students, 4 staff, and 6 unidentified individuals) and 4 new cases (3 child and 1 staff) in licensed child care settings.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are no new cases to report in Peterborough, Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, Haliburton, and Hastings and Prince Edward counties. There are currently 6 active cases in Peterborough and 6 active cases in Northumberland; there are no active cases elsewhere in the greater Kawarthas region. None of the cases identified in Ontario schools and child care settings are in the greater Kawarthas region.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 111 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (103 resolved with 2 deaths), 178 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (159 resolved with 32 deaths), 41 in Northumberland County (34 resolved with 1 death), 15 in Haliburton County (15 resolved with no deaths), and 52 in Hastings County and Prince Edward County (47 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Northumberland on September 8.
Province-wide, there have been 47,274 confirmed cases, an increase of 425 from yesterday, with 41,146 (87% of all cases) resolved, an increase of 178. There have been 2,829 deaths, an increase of 2 from yesterday, with 1,825 deaths reported in long-term care homes, an increase of 1 from yesterday. A total of 3,580,343 tests have been completed, an increase of 31,753 from yesterday, with 32,489 tests under investigation, a decrease of 5,182 from yesterday.
This report is based on data supplied by the province’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS), as well as any additional information supplied by health units. This information is at least 24 hours old, so it is not real-time data. Note that each health unit reports the information in a different way.
Peterborough Public Health
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
Confirmed positive: 111 (no change)*
Active cases: 6 (no change)*
Deaths: 2 (no change)
Resolved: 103 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 27,550 (increase of 150)
Institutional outbreaks: Fairhaven (no change)
*A positive case reported by the health unit on September 19 was due to an administrative error. The last actual reported case was on September 17.
Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit
The Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit’s service area is the City of Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland County, and Haliburton County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 234, including 178 in Kawartha Lakes, 41 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (no change)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 15 (no change)
Deaths: 33 (no change)
Resolved: 208, including 159 in Kawartha Lakes, 34 in Northumberland, 15 in Haliburton (no change)
Active cases: 6 in Northumberland (no change)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health
Hastings Prince Edward Public Health’s service area is Hastings County (including Bancroft) and Prince Edward County.
The health unit provides reports on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 52 (no change)
Active cases: 0 (no change)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 0 (no change)
Recovered: 47 (no change)
Total tests completed: 31,179 28,894 (increase of 2,285)
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 47,274 (increase of 425)
Resolved: 41,146 (increase of 178, 87% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 65 (increase of 2)*
Hospitalized and in ICU: 22 (decrease of 1)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 12 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 2,829 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 1,825 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 3,580,343 (increase of 31,753)
Tests under investigation: 32,489 (decrease of 5,182)
*As is often the case on weekends, around 35 hospitals did not submit data for the daily bed census. The number of hospitalized patients may increase when reporting compliance increases.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
