Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting another record increase of COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row, with today’s 1,925 cases exceeding by one case yesterday’s record of 1,924. The average number of daily cases over the past seven days has increased by 25 to 1,820.
There are 13 new cases to report today in the greater Kawarthas region, including 8 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, 1 in Peterborough, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes, with the total number of active cases across the region decreasing by 6 to 87. Effective Monday (December 7), the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit region has joined Peterborough Public Health and Hastings Prince Edward Health in Ontario’s ‘Yellow-Protect‘ level.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (601), Peel (512), York (167), and Durham (133).
There are double-digit increases in Hamilton (76), Waterloo (61), Simcoe Muskoka (60), Halton (54), Ottawa (48), Windsor-Essex (46), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (30), Niagara (27), Middlesex-London (23), Eastern Ontario Health Unit (22), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (11), and Huron Perth (10), with smaller increases in Thunder Bay (9), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (7), Southwestern Public Health (6), and Brant County (6).
The remaining 14 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 5 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s cases, 50% are among people under 40 years of age, with the highest number of cases (674) among people ages 20 to 39 followed by 571 cases among people ages 40 to 59. With 1,412 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% to 84.7%. Since the last update on December 4, the average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.4% to 4.0%, meaning that 40 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on December 6.
Ontario is reporting 26 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 13 in long-term care facilities. Hospitalizations have increased by 24 to 725, although this number excludes reports from around 40 hospitals. There are 9 more patients with COVID-19 in ICUs and 12 more patients on ventilators.
A total of 45,283 tests were completed yesterday, and the backlog of tests under investigation has decreased by 16,612 to 31,238.
There are 138 new cases in Ontario schools today, an increase of 9 from December 4, with 109 student cases and 29 staff cases. There are 23 new cases in licensed child care settings, an increase of 3 from December 4, with 9 cases among children and 14 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 13 new cases to report, including 8 in Northumberland, 3 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, 1 in Peterborough, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
An additional 8 cases have been resolved in Northumberland, 7 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, 2 in Peterborough, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes.
While the Ontario data indicates that none of today’s reported new cases in Ontario schools and child care settings are in the greater Kawarthas region, St. Peter Catholic Secondary School in Peterborough reported on December 7 that there has been a second confirmed case of COVID-19 in the school community; the school reports the individual has been isolating at home, did not attend school while they were infectious, and that the health unit says there is no risk to students or staff.
There are currently 87 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, including 35 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties, 28 in Northumberland, 17 in Peterborough, and 7 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 228 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (206 resolved with 5 deaths), 205 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (179 resolved with 32 deaths), 117 in Northumberland County (88 resolved with 1 death), 27 in Haliburton County (27 resolved with no deaths), and 171 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (134 resolved with 5 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on November 23.
Province-wide, there have been 129,234 confirmed cases, an increase of 1,925 from yesterday, with 109,402 resolved cases (84.7% of all cases), an increase of 1,412 from yesterday. There have been 3,798 deaths, an increase of 26 from yesterday, with 2,391 deaths in long-term care homes, an increase of 13 from yesterday. The number of hospitalizations has increased by 24 to 725, although this number excludes reports from around 40 hospitals. There are 9 more patients with COVID-19 in ICUs and 12 more patients on ventilators. A total of 6,626,589 tests have been completed, an increase of 45,283 from yesterday, with 31,238 tests under investigation, a decrease of 16,612 from yesterday.
The provincial data in this report is pulled from Ontario’s integrated Public Health Information System (iPHIS) at 12 p.m. the previous day. Data from local health units is more current and is usually reflected in the provincial data the following day. There may be discrepancies between the Ontario data reported today (which is from yesterday) and the local health unit data reported today (which is from today).
Peterborough Public Health
Peterborough Public Health’s service area is the City and County of Peterborough and the Hiawatha and Curve Lake First Nations.
The health unit provides daily reports, including on weekends.
Confirmed positive: 228 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 17 (decrease of 1)
Close contacts: 50 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Resolved: 206 (increase of 2)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 12*
Total tests completed: Over 37,350 (increase of 50)
Institutional outbreaks: Fairhaven (no change)
*Peterborough Regional Health Centre reports that, as of December 4, there are 2 patients with COVID-19 on inpatient units and 1 patient with COVID-19 in ICU (transferred from a partner hospital).
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 from Monday to Saturday, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 349, including 205 in Kawartha Lakes, 117 in Northumberland, 27 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 8 in Northumberland and 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Active cases: 35, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes and 28 in Northumberland (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 195, including 19 in Kawartha Lakes, 174 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (net increase of 10)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 16, including 11 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Deaths: 33 (no change)
Resolved: 294, including 179 in Kawartha Lakes, 88 in Northumberland, 27 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Northumberland and 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
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.
Effective December 5, the health unit is providing daily reports, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 174 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 35 (decrease of 4)
Deaths: 5 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 0 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 134 (increase of 7)
Swabs completed: 7,731
Institutional outbreaks: None (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 129,234 (increase of 1,925)
Resolved: 109,402 (increase of 1,412, 84.7% of all cases)
Hospitalized: 725 (increase of 24)*
Hospitalized and in ICU: 213 (increase of 9)
Hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 121 (increase of 12)
Deaths: 3,798 (increase of 26)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 2,391 (increase of 13)
Total tests completed: 6,626,589 (increase of 45,283)
Tests under investigation: 31,238 (decrease of 16,612)
*Around 40 hospitals did not submit data to the Daily Bed Census for December 5. The number of hospitalized patients may increase when reporting compliance increases.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
