Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 1,571 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 9 to 1,676. The province is also reporting 30 more confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 3 more cases of the of B.1.351 South Africa variant, and 10 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 10 new cases to report and an additional 8 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 1 to 88. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (459), Peel (309), and York (143).
There are double-digit increases in Ottawa (89), Durham (86), Hamilton (84), Thunder Bay (47), Waterloo (47), Niagara (41), Middlesex-London (39), Halton (28), Sudbury (27), Simcoe Muskoka (25), Eastern Ontario (20), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (20), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (17), Windsor-Essex (16), Chatham-Kent (12), and Haldimand-Norfolk (12), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9), Lambton (9), Southwestern (7), Brant (7), and Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (6).
The remaining 10 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (579) among people ages 20-39 followed by 422 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,531 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases is unchanged at 93.3%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 1.9% from yesterday to 3.8%, meaning that 38 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 23.
Ontario is reporting 10 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 11 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations continue to increase, with 25 new hospitalizations yesterday for a total of 893. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 9 to 333 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 17 to 210.
A total of 51,962 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 7,660 to 38,985.
A total of 1,676,150 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 72,451 from yesterday, with 302,664 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,621 from yesterday. The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.05% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.01% from yesterday.
There are 257 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 152 from yesterday, including 209 student cases, 47 staff cases, and 1 case of an unidentified person. There are 74 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 18 from yesterday, including 49 cases among children and 25 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 10 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough, 1 in Northumberland, 1 in Haliburton, and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward. There are no new cases in Kawartha Lakes.
There are 3 new regional cases of presumed variants of concern, including 2 in Northumberland and 1 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 8 cases have been resolved, including 6 in Peterborough and 2 in Kawartha Lakes. Outbreaks at Severn Court Student Residence in Peterborough and Champlain College residence at Trent University in Peterborough have been resolved.
There are currently 88 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 1 from yesterday, including 55 in Peterborough, 11 in Northumberland, 8 in Haliburton, 7 in Kawartha Lakes, and 7 in Hastings Prince Edward (1 in Quinte West, 2 in Belleville, 1 in Prince Edward County, 2 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings).
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 828 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (763 resolved with 10 deaths), 567 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (518 resolved with 55 deaths), 480 in Northumberland County (457 resolved with 12 deaths), 67 in Haliburton County (58 resolved with 1 death), and 444 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (431 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 4 p.m. the previous day, as well as from systems in Toronto, Ottawa, and Middlesex-London at 2 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: 828 (increase of 6)*
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 1 (no change)
Presumed variants of concern cases: 165 (decrease of 1)
Active cases: 55 (no change)
Close contacts: 200 (decrease of 8)
Deaths: 10 (no change)
Resolved: 763 (increase of 6)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 29 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 45,650 (no change)
Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility in Peterborough, Gzowski College student residence at Trent University, Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough (decrease of 2)***
Vaccine doses administered: 13,911 (last updated on March 18)
*The health unit is reporting 7 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 1 case removed from a previous day for a total increase of 6 cases.
**As of March 24, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 20 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***Outbreaks at Severn Court Student Residence in Peterborough and Champlain College residence at Trent University in Peterborough have been resolved.
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: 1,114, including 567 in Kawartha Lakes, 480 in Northumberland, and 67 in Haliburton (increase of 2, including 1 in Northumberland and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 45, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 36 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 26, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes, 11 in Northumberland, and 8 in Haliburton (no net change)
Probable cases: 0 (no change)
High-risk contacts: 185, including 34 in Kawartha Lakes, 78 in Northumberland, and 58 in Haliburton (net decrease of 4)***
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: 1,033, including 518 in Kawartha Lakes, 457 in Northumberland, 58 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
Tests completed: 158,241 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 15,788 (no change)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,283 (no change)
Outbreaks: Hyland Crest long-term care home in Minden, St. Michael Catholic Elementary School in Cobourg (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 23 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of March 24, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patient 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: 444 (increase of 1)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 9 (increase of 1)
Active cases: 7 (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: 431 (no change)
Tests completed: 79,210 (increase of 211)
Vaccine doses administered: 22,149 (increase of 1,331)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,896 (increase of 1)
Outbreaks: None (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 333,690 (increase of 1,571)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,389 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 30); 50 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 3); 47 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 10)
VOC R(t): 1.28 (increase of 0.01 as of March 20)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 1,676 (increase of 9)
Resolved: 311,380 (increase of 1,531), 93.3% of all cases (no change)
Positivity rate: 3.8% (decrease of 1.9%)
Hospitalizations: 893 (increase of 25)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 333 (increase of 9)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 210 (increase of 17)
Deaths: 7,263 (increase of 10)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 11 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,892 (no change)
Total tests completed: 12,198,355 (increase of 51,962)
Tests under investigation: 38,985 (increase of 7,660)
Vaccination doses administered: 1,676,150 (increase of 72,451)
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 302,664 (increase of 1,621), 2.05% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.01%, 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.
