Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 966 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases decreasing by 1 to 1,098. There are 7 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 542, and no new cases of other variants of concern.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 18 new cases to report and an additional 12 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 8 to 110. Most of the new cases and increase in active cases are in Peterborough, due to an outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence that has infected 34 students as of March 1.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (253) and Peel (223).
There are double-digit increases in York (99), Ottawa (64), Waterloo (46), Thunder Bay (39), Simcoe Muskoka (36), Durham (34), Halton (32), Windsor-Essex (23), Hamilton (23), Sudbury (19), Brant (13), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (13), and Lambton (11), with smaller increases in Eastern Ontario (7) and Middlesex-London (6).
The remaining 17 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 8 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 59% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (389) among people ages 20-39 followed by 249 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 979 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.2% from yesterday to 2.9%, meaning that 29 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 1.
Ontario is reporting 11 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 2 new deaths in a long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 16 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations have increased by 17 from yesterday to 677, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 4 from yesterday to 284, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 14 from yesterday to 189.
A total of 30,767 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 17,658 to 31,074.
A total of 727,021 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 22,326 from yesterday, with 264,896 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,682 from yesterday, representing 1.80% of Ontario’s population.
An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity; at the current vaccination rate (0.1% per day), it will take more than 22 months for Ontario to vaccinate 70% of the population.
There are 262 new cases in Ontario schools, an increase of 146 from yesterday, including 231 student cases, 30 staff cases and 1 case among an unidentified person. There are 41 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 28 from yesterday, with 33 cases among children and 8 cases among staff. Note: cases reported on Tuesdays include the total number of cases reported from Friday afternoon to Monday afternoon.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 18 new cases to report, including 14 in Peterborough, 3 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no new cases in Northumberland or Haliburton.
Most of the new cases in Peterborough are related to a COVID-19 outbreak that originated from social gatherings at Severn Court Student Residence in Peterborough. As of March 2, there have been 34 positive cases among Fleming College and Trent University students.
An additional 12 cases have been resolved, including 4 in Northumberland, 4 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 110 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 8 from yesterday, including 62 in Peterborough, 21 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West, 14 in Belleville, 4 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 2 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory), 17 in Northumberland, and 10 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 670 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (599 resolved with 9 deaths), 537 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (485 resolved with 55 deaths), 444 in Northumberland County (416 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (51 resolved with no deaths), and 421 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (394 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: 670 (increase of 14)*
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 18 (increase of 18)
Active cases: 62 (increase of 12)
Close contacts: 217 (increase of 3)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 599 (increase of 4)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 24 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 43,700 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home, Severn Court Student Residence (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 1,136 (no change)
*Most of today’s new cases are related to an outbreak at Severn Court Student Residence.
**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).
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.
Confirmed positive: 1,032, including 537 in Kawartha Lakes, 444 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 14, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 12 in Northumberland (increase of 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 27, including 10 in Kawartha Lakes and 17 in Northumberland (decrease of 5, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)
Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 1 in Northumberland)
High-risk contacts: 100, including 43 in Kawartha Lakes, 53 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (net decrease of 3)***
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: 952, including 485 in Kawartha Lakes, 416 in Northumberland, 51 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 144,365 (increase of 1,297)
Outbreaks: Regency long-term care home in Port Hope (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 March 2, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
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: 421 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 21 (increase of 1)
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: 394 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 66,284 (increase of 44)
Vaccines administered: 2,186 (no change)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 302,805 (increase of 966)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 542 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: 1,098 (decrease of 1)
Resolved: 285,262 (increase of 979, 94.2% of all cases)
Positivity rate: 2.9% (decrease of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 677 (increase of 17)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 284 (increase of 4)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 189 (increase of 14)
Deaths: 6,997 (increase of 11)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,867 (increase of 2)
Total tests completed: 11,110,935 (increase of 30,767)
Tests under investigation: 31,074 (increase of 17,658)
Vaccination doses administered: 727,021 (increase of 22,326)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 264,896 (increase of 1,682), 1.80% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
