Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,062 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 4 to 1,104.
Ontario is reporting 20 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 528, as well as 2 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 27, and 1 new case of the P.1 Brazilian variant, for a total of 3.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 10 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 3 to 96. However, these numbers do not include cases in Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton as updates are not available on Sundays.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (259) and Peel (201).
There are double-digit increases in York (86), Waterloo (60), Halton (47), Hamilton (45), Southwestern (43), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (42), Ottawa (31), Brant (31), Lambton (26), Windsor-Essex (25), Durham (23), Thunder Bay (22), Simcoe Muskoka (20), Niagara (18), Sudbury (16), Northwestern (14), and Middlesex-London (13), with smaller increases in Peterborough (7) and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 60% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (395) among people ages 20-39, followed by 275 cases among people ages 40-59 and 242 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 1,029 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 2.4%, meaning that 24 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 27.
Ontario is reporting 20 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 17 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have decreased by 53 from yesterday to 627, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 13 from yesterday to 289, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 3 to 185.
A total of 49,185 tests were completed yesterday, pushing the number of tests completed since the pandemic began to over 11 million, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 9,671 to 18,318.
A total of 687,271 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 19,167 from yesterday, with 262,103 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,131 from yesterday, representing 1.78% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report, including 10 in Peterborough and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 10 cases have been resolved, including 9 in Peterborough and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
Current numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton are unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue an update on Sundays.
There are currently 96 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 3 from yesterday, including 44 in Peterborough, 22 in Northumberland, 16 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 645 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (592 resolved with 9 deaths), 537 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (481 resolved with 55 deaths), 441 in Northumberland County (408 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 414 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (392 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent 2 deaths were reported in Kawartha Lakes on February 23.
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, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 645 (increase of 10)*
Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Active cases: 44 (increase of 3)
Close contacts: 172 (increase of 26)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 592 (increase of 9)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 43,450 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School, Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*As of February 28, the health unit is reporting 23 positive cases related to an outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence, some of which are not reflected in today’s total case count.
**As of February 26, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 17 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
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 Sundays and statutory holidays. These numbers are from February 27.
Confirmed positive: 1,029, including 537 in Kawartha Lakes, 441 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)**
Active cases: 36, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 22 in Northumberland (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change)
High-risk contacts: 87, including 52 in Kawartha Lakes and 32 in Northumberland (decrease of 11, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 44, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 15 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 66, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes and 11 in Northumberland (no change)
Resolved: 940, including 481 in Kawartha Lakes, 408 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 142,855 (increase of 517)
Outbreaks: Caressant Care McLaughlin Road long-term care home in Lindsay, Regency long-term care home in Port Hope, Warkworth Place in Warkworth (no change)
*The health unit states that total counts and counts for individual counties may fluctuate from previously reported counts as cases are transferred to or from the health unit based on case investigation details and routine data cleaning.
**The N501Y mutation has been identified in variants of concern including the B.1.1.7 UK variant, the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and the P.1 Brazilian variant.
***This total includes an additional 3 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of February 26, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (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 daily reports, including on weekends, excluding statutory holidays.
Confirmed positive: 414 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 16 (no net change)
Deaths: 6 (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: 392 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 65,932 (increase of 5,065)
Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 300,816 (increase of 1,062)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 528 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 20); 27 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 3 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 1)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,104 (decrease of 4)
Resolved: 283,344 (increase of 1,029, 94.2% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 2.4% (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 627 (decrease of 53)*
Hospitalizations in ICU: 289 (increase of 13)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 185 (increase of 3)
Deaths: 6,980 (increase of 20)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 17 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,864 (decrease of 1)
Total tests completed: 11,045,153 (increase of 49,185)
Tests under investigation: 18,318 (decrease of 9,671)
Vaccination doses administered: 687,271 (increase of 19,167)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 262,103 (increase of 1,131), 1.78% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
