Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 3,670 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 86 to a record high of 3,868. For the fourth day in a row, 10 public health units are reporting at least triple-digit increases.
The positivity rate has reached 10.3%, the highest positivity rate since April 2020. There are now 20,487 cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant in Ontario, an increase of 3,947 from yesterday, with 3 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached another record high, as has the number of patients in ICUs and those on ventilators.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 78 new cases to report and an additional 26 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 52 to 457. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (1,063), Peel (613), York (519), Ottawa (214), Hamilton (161), Halton (157), Waterloo (121), Durham (106), Niagara (103), and Simcoe Muskoka (102).
There are double-digit increases today in Middlesex-London (83), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (78), Sudbury (44), Windsor-Essex (42), Eastern Ontario (32), Southwestern (30), Brant (27), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (19), Hastings Prince Edward (16), Renfrew (15), Northwestern (13), and Grey Bruce (12), with smaller increasess in Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (8), Peterborough (7), Chatham-Kent (7), and Haldimand-Norfolk (6).
The remaining 8 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with only 1 health unit (Timiskaming) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 56% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,344) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,075 cases among people ages 40-59 and 721 cases among people 19 and under.
With 2,573 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.2% to 89.0%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 0.8% to 10.3%, meaning that 103 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 12.
Ontario is reporting 15 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 18 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations increased by 176 to 1,822, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 7 to 626, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 14 to 422.
A total of 42,167 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 10,883 to 35,679.
A total of 3,310,157 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 95,692 from yesterday, with 335,262 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,843.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.28% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 22.47% of the population, an increase of 0.65% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 78 new cases to report, including 34 in Northumberland, 21 in Hastings Prince Edward, 20 in Peterborough, 2 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton.
An outbreak at an unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville was declared on April 13.
Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 19 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 and 40 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive. There is 1 new ICU admission in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are 47 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 22 in Northumberland, 15 in Kawartha Lakes, 4 in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 in Peterborough, and 3 in Haliburton.
An additional 26 cases have been resolved, including 20 in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 in Northumberland, 2 in Peterborough, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are currently 457 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 52 from yesterday, including 160 in Hastings Prince Edward (42 in Quinte West, 76 in Belleville, 5 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 1 in Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory, 18 in Prince Edward County, 15 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), 132 in Northumberland, 120 in Peterborough, 35 in Kawartha Lakes, and 10 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,029 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (897 resolved with 12 deaths), 634 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (557 resolved with 55 deaths), 668 in Northumberland County (524 resolved with 12 deaths), 81 in Haliburton County (70 resolved with 1 death), and 748 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (581 resolved with 7 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on April 10.
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: 1,029 (increase of 19)*
Total variants of concern cases: 310 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 120 (increase of 17)
Close contacts: 440 (increase of 67)
Deaths: 12 (no change)
Resolved: 897 (increase of 2)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 34 (increase of 2)**
Total tests completed: Over 48,000 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #2 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #3 in Peterborough, Champlain Annex at Trent University in Peterborough, Thomas A. Stewart Secondary School in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #4 in Peterborough County, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 34,612 (increase of 4,179 as of April 8)
*The health unit is reporting 20 new cases in the last 24 hours. One case has been removed from a previous day, increasing the total case count by 19.
**As of April 13, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 19 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (an increase of 5) and 40 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (an 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: 1,383, including 634 in Kawartha Lakes, 668 in Northumberland, and 81 in Haliburton (increase of 37, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes, 34 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 188, including 59 in Kawartha Lakes, 124 in Northumberland, and 5 in Haliburton (increase of 40, including 15 in Kawartha Lakes, 22 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton)**
Active cases: 177, including 35 in Kawartha Lakes, 132 in Northumberland, and 10 in Haliburton (increase of 35, including 33 in Northumberland and 2 in Haliburton)
Probable cases: 1 in Kawartha Lakes (decrease of 1 in Haliburton)
High-risk contacts: 416, including 73 in Kawartha Lakes, 256 in Northumberland, and 8 in Haliburton (net decrease of 6)***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53, including 32 in Kawartha Lakes, 18 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: 1,151, including 557 in Kawartha Lakes, 524 in Northumberland, and 70 in Haliburton (increase of 4, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 167,405 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 38,415 (increase of 8,007 as of April 12)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,047 (increase of 58 as of April 12)
Outbreaks: St. Mary Catholic Secondary School in Cobourg, Timber House Resort in Brighton, Swiss Chalet in Cobourg, Christian Horizons in Port Hope, Cobourg Collegiate Institute in Cobourg, Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls (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 79 high-risk contacts directly followed up through the Public Health Ontario contact tracing process that are missing the contacts’ county.
****As of April 13, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
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: 748 (increase of 21)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 153 (increase of 4)
Active cases: 160 (no change)
Deaths: 7 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 9 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 4 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 1 (no change)
Resolved: 581 (increase of 20)
Tests completed: 120,676 (increase of 37)
Vaccine doses administered: 43,318 (increase of 1,365)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,224 (increase of 8)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Trenton, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Quinte West, Tri-board Bus #499 in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville (increase of 1)*
An outbreak at an unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville was declared on April 13.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 394,679 (increase of 3,670)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 20,487 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 3,947); 81 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (no change); 143 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 3)*
VOC R(t): 1.23 (last updated April 2)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,868 (increase of 86)
Positivity rate: 10.3% (increase of 0.8%)
Resolved: 351,257 (increase of 2,573), 89.0% of all cases (decrease of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,822 (increase of 176)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 626 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 422 (increase of 14)
Deaths: 7,582 (increase of 15)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 18 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,908 (no change)
Total tests completed: 13,238,455 (increase of 42,167)
Tests under investigation: 35,679 (increase of 10,883)
Vaccination doses administered: 3,310,157 (increase of 95,692), 22.47% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.65%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 335,262 (increase of 1,843), 2.28% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)***
*On April 8, the government changed the way it reports cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant. Previously they were reported only when genetic sequencing confirmed they were of the B.1.1.7 lineage. Since genetic sequencing completed to date has determined 95% of specimens screening positive for the N501Y mutation have been found to be the B.1.1.7 UK variant, specimens with the N501Y mutation are now reported as cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant.
**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.
