Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 1,508 new cases — the highest daily increase without data issues since February 4 when 1,563 cases were reported. The seven-day average of daily cases has increased by 27 to 1,361.
Today’s new cases include 3 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, for a total of 1,134, and 1 more case of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, for a total of 47. The R(t) value for variants of concern — the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population — has decreased by 0.03 to 1.35.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report and an additional 12 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 4 to 101. See below for details for each health unit in the region.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (542), Peel (253), and York (107).
There are double-digit increases in Simcoe Muskoka (74), Ottawa (69), Niagara (66), Thunder Bay (63), Waterloo (45), Durham (42), Hamilton (36), Halton (32), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (25), Middlesex-London (23), Windsor-Essex (23), Sudbury (18), Haldimand-Norfolk (12), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (11), Peterborough (10), and Brant (10), with smaller increases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (8), Lambton (7), Chatham-Kent (6), and Southwestern (6).
The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 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 (575) among people ages 20-39 followed by 404 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,488 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases remains unchanged at 93.9%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.0% from yesterday to 3.5%, meaning that 35 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 16.
Ontario is reporting 14 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 5 in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 13 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations have decreased by 20 from yesterday to 741, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 8 to 300, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 4 to 190.
A total of 49,128 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 7,753 to 35,201.
A total of 1,301,334 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 58,202 from yesterday, with 290,659 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,741 from yesterday, representing 1.97% of Ontario’s population.
There are 179 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 188 from yesterday, including 145 student cases, 33 staff cases, and 1 unidentified case. There are 52 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, an increase of 4 from yesterday, with 35 cases among children and 17 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 17 new cases to report, including 9 in Peterborough, 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Haliburton, 1 in Northumberland, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An outbreak at Highland Wood long-term care home in Haliburton Highlands was declared on March 16.
There are 3 new cases of presumed variants of concern in Northumberland.
An additional 12 cases have been resolved, including 10 in Peterborough, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville was declared resolved on March 17.
There are currently 101 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 4 from yesterday, including 55 in Peterborough, 18 in Northumberland, 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 10 in Haliburton, and 8 in Hastings Prince Edward (2 in Quinte West, 2 in Belleville, 2 in Prince Edward County, 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, and 1 in North Hastings).
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 787 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (722 resolved with 10 deaths), 561 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (508 resolved with 55 deaths), 472 in Northumberland County (442 resolved with 12 deaths), 61 in Haliburton County (50 resolved with 1 death), and 440 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (426 resolved with 6 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on March 16.
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: 787 (increase of 9)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 126 (no change)
Active cases: 55 (decrease of 1)
Close contacts: 143 (decrease of 1)
Deaths: 10 (no change)
Resolved: 722 (increase of 10)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 27 (no change)*
Total tests completed: Over 45,250 (increase of 150)
Outbreaks: Severn Court Student Residence, Trent Champlain College residence, unidentified congregate living facility in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 10,320 (no change, last updated March 11)
*As of March 17, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 19 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: 1,094, including 561 in Kawartha Lakes, 472 in Northumberland, and 61 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes, 1 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 35, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 29 in Northumberland, 1 in Haliburton (increase of 3 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 39, including 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 18 in Northumberland, and 10 in Haliburton (net increase of 6)
Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: 289, including 138 in Kawartha Lakes, 103 in Northumberland, and 18 in Haliburton (net increase of 29)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 49, including 29 in Kawartha Lakes, 17 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,000, including 508 in Kawartha Lakes, 442 in Northumberland, 50 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
Tests completed: 153,984 (no change)
Outbreaks: CrossFit Lindsay, Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, St. Michael Catholic Elementary School in Cobourg, Highland Wood long-term care home in Haliburton Highlands (increase 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 30 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of March 17, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change).
*****An outbreak at Highland Wood long-term care home in Haliburton Highlands was declared on March 16.
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: 440 (increase of 1)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 6 (no change)
Active cases: 8 (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: 426 (increase of 1)
Tests completed: 75,726 (increase of 6)
Vaccine doses administered: 13,821 (increase of 614)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,345 (no change)
Outbreaks: None (decrease of 1)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville was declared resolved on March 17.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 321,956 (increase of 1,508)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,134 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 3); 47 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 1); 34 of P.1 Brazilian variant (no change)
VOC R(t): 1.35 (decrease of 0.03, as of March 13)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,361 (increase of 27)
Resolved: 302,257 (increase of 1,488), 93.9% of all cases (no change)
Positivity rate: 3.5% (decrease of 1.0%)
Hospitalizations: 741 (decrease of 20)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 300 (increase of 8)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 190 (decrease of 4)
Deaths: 7,187 (increase of 14)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 13 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,887 (increase of 5)
Total tests completed: 11,866,738 (increase of 49,128)
Tests under investigation: 35,201 (increase of 7,753)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,301,334 (increase of 58,202)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 290,659 (increase of 1,741), 1.97% of Ontario’s population (est. 70-90% required for herd immunity)
*R(t) is a virus’s effective reproduction number, which is the average number of new infections caused by a single infected individual at a specific time (t) in a partially immunized population. To successfully eliminate a disease from a population, R(t) needs to be less than 1.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
