Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,023 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 5 to 1,099. There are 7 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 535, and no new cases of other variants of concern.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report and an additional 9 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 6 to 102.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (280) and Peel (182).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (72), Thunder Bay (55), Hamilton (53), York (47), Simcoe Muskoka (39), Halton (39), Waterloo (39), Durham (34), Niagara (30), Windsor-Essex (22), Middlesex-London (18), Brant (16), Lambton (14), Northwestern (12), Peterborough (12), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (12), and Sudbury (11), with smaller increases in Eastern Ontario (9) and Renfrew (7).
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, 61% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (396) among people ages 20-39, followed by 268 cases among people ages 40-59 and 225 cases among people 19 and younger.
With 939 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.7% from yesterday to 3.1%, meaning that 31 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on February 28.
Ontario is reporting 6 new COVID-19 deaths today — the lowest number of deaths reported since October 25 — with 1 new death in a long-term care home. The province has averaged 16 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have increased by 32 from yesterday to 659, 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 decreased by 9 from yesterday to 280, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has decreased by 10 to 175.
A total of 35,015 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 4,902 to 13,416.
A total of 704,695 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 17,424 from yesterday, with 263,214 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,111 from yesterday, representing 1.79% of Ontario’s population. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
There are 116 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 15 from February 26, including 99 student cases, 15 staff cases and 2 cases among unidentified people. There are 13 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 16 from February 26, with 7 cases among children and 6 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report, including 9 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 9 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Northumberland, 3 in Peterborough, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. Outbreaks at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay,d Warkworth Place in Warkworth, and Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School have been declared resolved.
There are currently 102 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 6 from yesterday, including 50 in Peterborough, 21 in Northumberland, 20 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 12 in Belleville, 4 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), and 11 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 654 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (595 resolved with 9 deaths), 536 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (484 resolved with 55 deaths), 444 in Northumberland County (412 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 418 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: 654 (increase of 9)
Variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Active cases: 50 (increase of 6)
Close contacts: 214 (increase of 42)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 595 (increase of 3)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 43,650 (increase of 200)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (decrease of 1)**
Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*As of March 1, 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).
**The outbreak at Buckhorn Day Care and Nursery School was declared resolved on February 27.
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 include February 28 and March 1.
Confirmed positive: 1,031, including 536 in Kawartha Lakes, 444 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 4 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 12, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 10 in Northumberland (no change)**
Active cases: 32, including 11 in Kawartha Lakes and 21 in Northumberland (decrease of 4, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (no change)
High-risk contacts: 103, including 40 in Kawartha Lakes and 58 in Northumberland (increase of 16)***
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: 946, including 483 in Kawartha Lakes, 412 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 143,068 (increase of 213)
Outbreaks: Regency long-term care home in Port Hope (decrease of 2)*****
*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 March 1, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
*****Outbreaks at Caressant Care McLaughlin Road in Lindsay and Warkworth Place in Warkworth have been declared resolved.
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: 418 (increase of 4)
Active cases: 20 (increase of 4)
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 (no change)
Tests completed: 66,240 (increase of 308)
Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 301,839 (increase of 1,023)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 535 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 7); 27 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 3 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,099 (decrease of 5)
Resolved: 284,283 (increase of 939, 94.2% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 3.1% (increase of 0.7%)
Hospitalizations: 659 (increase of 32)*
Hospitalizations in ICU: 280 (decrease of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 175 (decrease of 10)
Deaths: 6,986 (increase of 6)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,865 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 11,045,153 (increase of 35,015)
Tests under investigation: 13,416 (decrease of 4,902)
Vaccination doses administered: 704,695 (increase of 17,424)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 263,214 (increase of 1,111), 1.79% 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.
