Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 2,557 new cases, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 35 to 2,341. There are 55 more confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant and 4 more confirmed cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 39 new cases to report and an additional 3 cases resolved, with the number of active cases across the region increasing by 36 from yesterday to 190. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (743), Peel (484), York (311), Ottawa (131), Hamilton (119), and Durham (107).
There are double-digit increases in Halton (82) Simcoe Muskoka (73), Middlesex-London (71), Waterloo (46), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (43), Eastern Ontario (37), Windsor-Essex (37), Niagara (34), Hastings Prince Edward (30), Lambton (30), Thunder Bay (27), Brant (27), Haldimand-Norfolk (16), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (15), Chatham-Kent (14), Grey Bruce (14), Sudbury (13), and Southwestern (13), with smaller increases in Peterborough (9) and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (7).
The remaining 8 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 1 case.
Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (941) among people ages 20-39 followed by 738 cases among people ages 40-59.
With 1,814 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.1% to 92.0%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.3% to 4.8%, meaning that 48 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on March 31.
Ontario is reporting 23 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 16 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations has increased by 5 to 1,116, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 37 to 433 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 7 to 259.
A total of 62,290 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 1,591 to 42,057.
A total of 2,276,313 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 84,060 from yesterday, with 317,715 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,895 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people now represents 2.16% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 15.45% of the population, an increase of 0.57% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
There are 249 new cases in Ontario schools, a decrease of 73 from yesterday, including 211 student cases, 36 staff cases, and 2 case among unidentified people. There are 59 new cases in licensed child care settings in Ontario, a decrease of 22 from yesterday, including 38 cases among children and 21 cases among staff.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 39 new cases to report, including 16 in Hastings Prince Edward, 8 in Peterborough, 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton.
Outbreaks at Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg and an unidentified setting in Belleville were declared on March 31.
There are 21 new regional cases of presumed variants of concern, including 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Peterborough, 3 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Northumberland.
An additional 3 cases have been resolved, including 2 in Hastings Prince Edward and 1 in Peterborough.
There are currently 190 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 36 from yesterday, including 84 in Hastings Prince Edward (24 in Quinte West, 37 in Belleville, 7 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 5 in Prince Edward County, 10 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 55 in Peterborough, 26 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 879 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (814 resolved with 10 deaths), 594 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (526 resolved with 55 deaths), 503 in Northumberland County (467 resolved with 12 deaths), 66 in Haliburton County (64 resolved with 1 death), and 530 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (439 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: 879 (increase of 4)*
Total variants of concern cases: 206 (increase of 7)
Active cases: 55 (increase of 3)
Close contacts: 220 (increase of 22)
Deaths: 10
Resolved: 814 (increase of 1)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 30 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 46,650 (increase of 300)
Outbreaks: Gzowski College student residence at Trent University, Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Workplace #1 in City of Peterborough, Workplace #2 in City of Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 30,433 (increase of 6,124 since March 25)
*The health unit is reporting 8 new cases in the last 24 hours. As 4 cases have been removed from previous days, the total case count has only increased by 4.
**As of April 1, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting fewer than 10 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and 25 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 1).
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: 1,163 including 594 in Kawartha Lakes, 503 in Northumberland, and 66 in Haliburton (increase of 15, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 50, including 21 in Kawartha Lakes and 29 in Northumberland (increase of 4, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 51, including 26 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (increase of 17, including 20 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Probable cases: 1 (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: 145, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes, 75 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (net increase of 15)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 50, including 30 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: 1,057, including 526 in Kawartha Lakes, 467 in Northumberland, 64 in Haliburton (no change)
Tests completed: 163,439 (increase of 654)
Vaccine doses administered: 23,198 (last updated on March 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,618 (last updated on March 29)
Outbreaks: Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg (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 20 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of April 1, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 1 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
*****An outbreak was declared at Golden Plough Lodge in Cobourg on March 31.
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: 530 (increase of 16)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 30 (increase of 10)
Active cases: 84 (increase of 13)
Deaths: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 1 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 1 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 0 (no change)
Resolved: 439 (increase of 2)
Tests completed: 82,939 (increase of 8)
Vaccine doses administered: 31,239 (increase of 2,766)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 1,933 (decrease of 13)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Trenton, Unidentified setting in Belleville (increase of 1)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified setting in Belleville was declared on March 31.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 352,460 (increase of 2,557)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) confirmed cases: 1,953 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 55); 67 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (decrease of 2); 96 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 4)
VOC R(t): 1.33 (decrease of .02, last updated March 27)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 2,341 (increase of 35)
Resolved: 324,196 (increase of 1,814), 92.0% of all cases (decrease of 0.1%)
Positivity rate: 4.8% (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 1,116 (increase of 5)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 433 (increase of 37)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 259 (increase of 7)
Deaths: 7,389 (increase of 23)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 16 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,901 (no change)
Total tests completed: 12,613,463 (increase of 62,290)
Tests under investigation: 42,057 (increase of 1,591)
Vaccination doses administered: 2,276,313 (increase of 84,060), 15.45% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.57%)**
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 317,715 (increase of 1,895), 2.16% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)**
*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.
**An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
For more information about COVID-19 in Ontario, visit covid-19.ontario.ca.
