Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting another spike of 1,631 new cases, although the province states today’s case count is higher than expected due to a “data catch-up process” in the province’s case and contact management system. Today’s total increases the seven-day average of daily cases by 120 to 1,155.
There are 51 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 879, 8 new cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 39, and 4 new cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant, for a total of 17.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report and an additional 13 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 1 to 128.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (568), Peel (322), and York (119), with Thunder Bay approaching triple digits for the first time at 91 cases.
There are double-digit increases in Durham (68), Ottawa (57), Halton (51), Waterloo (51), Simcoe Muskoka (48), Windsor-Essex (46), Niagara (31), Sudbury (27), Hamilton (22), Brant (20), Lambton (19), Middlesex-London (18), Eastern Ontario (15), Northwestern (11), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (10), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9) and Renfrew County (6).
The remaining 13 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 6 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 56% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (596) among people ages 20-39 followed by 447 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 994 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% at 94.2%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% from yesterday to 3.4%, meaning that 34 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 7.
Ontario is reporting 10 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 13 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have increased by 26 from yesterday to 626, although more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 9 from yesterday to 282 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 5 to 184.
A total of 38,063 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,166 to 13,891.
A total of 912,486 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 21,882 from yesterday, with 273,676 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,869 from yesterday, representing 1.86% of Ontario’s population.
There are 95 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 1 from March 5, including 84 student cases and 11 staff cases. There are 34 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 10 from March 5, with 20 cases among children and 14 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 12 new cases to report, including 4 in Peterborough, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
There are now 78 presumed cases of variants of concern in Peterborough, an increase of 5 since yesterday.
An additional 13 cases have been resolved, including 5 in Peterborough, 4 in Northumberland, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward. Outbreaks at Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough and Regency long-term care home in Port Hope have been declared resolved.
There are currently 128 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 1 from yesterday, including 84 in Peterborough, 15 in Hastings Prince Edward (11 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 2 in Prince Edward County), 15 in Northumberland, and 14 in Kawartha Lakes. There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 722 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (629 resolved with 9 deaths), 550 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (494 resolved with 55 deaths), 454 in Northumberland County (428 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 429 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (408 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Haliburton on March 4.
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: 722 (increase of 4)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 78 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 84 (decrease of 2)
Close contacts: 264 (decrease of 13)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 629 (increase of 5)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 25 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,350 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (decrease of 1)**
Vaccine doses administered: 5,927 (no change, last updated March 4)
*As of March 8, 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 Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough was declared resolved on March 8.
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 number are from March 7 and 8.
Confirmed positive: 1,055, including 550 in Kawartha Lakes, 454 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 16, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 14 in Northumberland (increase of 1 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 29, including 14 in Kawartha Lakes and 15 in Northumberland (net increase of 1)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 137, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 59 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 35)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47, including 27 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 67, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 972, including 494 in Kawartha Lakes, 428 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 6, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in NOrthumberland)
Tests completed: 148,125 (increase of 379)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (decrease of 1)*****
*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 29 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of March 8, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
*****An outbreak at Regency long-term care home in Port Hope has 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: 429 (increase of 2)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 4 (no change)
Active cases: 15 (no 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: 408 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 71,243 (increase of 753)
Vaccines administered: 7,976 (increase of 745)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 309,927 (increase of 1,631)*
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 879 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 51); 39 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 8); 17 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 4)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,155 (increase of 120)
Resolved: 291,834 (increase of 994), 94.2% of all cases
Positivity rate: 3.4% (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 626 (decrease of 20)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 282 (increase of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 184 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 7,077 (increase of 10)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 13 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,876 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,436,417 (increase of 38,063)
Tests under investigation: 13,891 (decrease of 6,166)
Vaccination doses administered: 912,486 (increase of 21,882)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 273,676 (increase of 1,869), 1.86% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*The Ontario government states today’s csse count is higher than expected due to a “data catch-up process” in the province’s case and contact management system.
**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.
