Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
With Ontario reporting 1,316 new cases today, the provincial government announced plans to distribute 194,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Ontarians aged 60-64. The vast majority of the doses will be supplied to 325 pharmacies in Toronto, Windsor-Essex, and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington for appointment-based vaccinations.
However, 29,500 doses will also be distributed to primary care providers (including family doctors) in Hamilton, Toronto, Guelph, Peterborough, Simcoe-Muskoka, and Peel. Beginning March 13, primary care providers in these six public health regions will be contacting eligible patients aged 60-64 directly to book an appointment.
With today’s new cases, the seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 51 to 1,238. There are 13 new cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 921, with no new cases of other variants of concern.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report and an additional 15 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region decreasing by 5 to 127.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (428), Peel (244), and York (149).
There are double-digit increases in Thunder Bay (67), Ottawa (59), Hamilton (59), Durham (48), Halton (48), Simcoe Muskoka (31), Waterloo (25), Windsor-Essex (23), Niagara (19), Peterborough (16), Brant (14), Sudbury (13), Eastern Ontario (11), and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (11), with smaller increases in Chatham-Kent (9), Northwestern (8), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (8), Southwestern (7), and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (478) among people ages 20-39 followed by 363 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,212 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% at 94.1%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.2% from yesterday to 2.5%, meaning that 25 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 9.
Ontario is reporting 16 new COVID-19 deaths today. For the third day in a row, there are no new deaths in Ontario’s long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 12 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations have decreased by 11 from yesterday to 678, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 9 to 281 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 6 to 178.
A total of 54,149 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 8,673 to 38,518.
A total of 978,797 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 35,264 from yesterday, with 279,204 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 3,011 from yesterday, representing 1.9% of Ontario’s population.
There are 194 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 69 from yesterday, including 159 student cases, 31 staff cases, and 4 cases among unidentified people. There are 43 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 16 from yesterday, with 28 cases among children and 15 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report, including 8 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Northumberland or Haliburton.
There are 6 new cases of presumed variants of concern, including 2 in Peterborough, 2 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 15 cases have been resolved, including 13 in Peterborough, 1 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland.
There are currently 127 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 5 from yesterday, including 81 in Peterborough, 16 in Northumberland, 16 in Kawartha Lakes, and 14 in Hastings Prince Edward (9 in Belleville, 3 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, and 2 in Prince Edward County). There are no active cases in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 745 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (655 resolved with 9 deaths), 552 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (494 resolved with 55 deaths), 457 in Northumberland County (430 resolved with 11 deaths), 51 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 431 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (412 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: 745 (increase of 8)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 89 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 81 (decrease of 5)
Close contacts: 220 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Resolved: 655 (increase of 13)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 26 (increase of 1)*
Total tests completed: Over 44,500 (increase of 100)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, Regency retirement home in Lakefield (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 5,927 (no change, last updated March 4)
*As of March 10, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting no patients hospitalized with COVID-19 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: 1,060, including 552 in Kawartha Lakes, 457 in Northumberland, and 51 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 18, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 15 in Northumberland (increase of 3, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 32, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes and 16 in Northumberland (no net change)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 226, including 132 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 50)***
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: 974, including 494 in Kawartha Lakes, 430 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 148,131 (decrease of 1,068)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay (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 46 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of March 10, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports no patients 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: 431 (increase of 1)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 5 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 14 (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: 412 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 71,400 (increase of 5)
Vaccine doses administered: 9,795 (increase of 1,273)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 312,428 (increase of 1,316)
Total COVID-19 variant cases: 921 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 13); 39 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 17 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,238 (increase of 51)
Resolved: 294,018 (increase of 1,212), 94.1% of all cases
Positivity rate: 2.5% (decrease of 1.2%)
Hospitalizations: 678 (decrease of 11)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 281 (decrease of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 178 (decrease of 6)
Deaths: 7,099 (increase of 16)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 12 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,876 (no change)
Total tests completed: 11,523,830 (increase of 54,149)
Tests under investigation: 38,518 (increase of 8,673)
Vaccination doses administered: 978,797 (increase of 35,264)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 279,204 (increase of 3,011), 1.9% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
