Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting a record increase of 4,736 new cases today, with the seven-day average of daily cases increasing by 205 to a new record high of 4,208. For the first time since the pandemic began, 11 public health units are reporting at least triple-digit increases.
There are now 27,278 cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant in Ontario, an increase of 2,811 from yesterday, with 11 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa variant, and 15 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant. The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 has reached another record high at 1,932, as has the number of patients in ICUs at 659, including 442 people on ventilators.
“I really wish that I had better news to give you today,” said Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Ontario’s associate chief medical officer of health, at a media briefing on Thursday afternoon where she presented the updated numbers. “These data are alarming, and should be of tremendous concern to everyone.”
“It is likely we will see our daily cases remain high for the next while, and the number of people in hospital and in intensive care will increase even more,” Dr. Yaffe added. “While we have a stay-at-home order and stronger public health measures in place, it will take some time before we see the effect of these interventions.”
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 50 new cases to report and an additional 50 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 2 to 464. See below for detailed numbers from each regional health unit.
Most of today’s new cases are in Toronto (1,188), Peel (983), York (526), Ottawa (342), Durham (216), Niagara (215), Middlesex-London (181), Hamilton (150), Halton (140), Simcoe Muskoka (118), and Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (102).
There are double-digit increases today in Windsor-Essex (95), Waterloo (81), Eastern Ontario (74), Grey Bruce (46), Southwestern (36), Brant (31), Haldimand-Norfolk (31), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (29), Huron Perth (22), Lambton (20), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (18), Peterborough (18), Sudbury (16), and Hastings Prince Edward (15), with smaller increases in Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (8), Thunder Bay (7), Chatham-Kent (7), and Porcupine (6).
The remaining 5 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with all health units reporting at least 2 cases.
Of today’s new cases, 55% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,719) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,408 cases among people ages 40-59 and 894 cases among people 19 and under.
With 3,174 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has decreased by 0.3% to 88.6%. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.6% to 8.0%, meaning that 80 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 14.
Ontario is reporting 29 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 21 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 2 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations increased by 55 to 1,932, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs increasing by 17 to 659, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 20 to 442.
A total of 65,559 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 5,566 to 39,682.
A total of 3,528,404 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 105,430 from yesterday, with 339,491 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,285.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.30% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.01% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 23.95% of the population, an increase of 0.72% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 50 new cases to report, including 20 in Hastings Prince Edward, 18 in Peterborough, 9 in Northumberland, 2 in Haliburton, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.
A new outbreak at North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft was declared on April 14. A new outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough was declared on April 15. There is 1 new ICU admission in Hastings Prince Edward and 1 new hospitalization in Northumberland.
There are 41 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 32 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland.
An additional 50 cases have been resolved, including 22 in Hastings Prince Edward, 14 in Northumberland, 11 in Peterborough, and 3 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are currently 464 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 148 in Hastings Prince Edward (31 in Quinte West, 75 in Belleville, 7 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 17 in Prince Edward County, 12 in Central Hastings, and 6 in North Hastings), 139 in Peterborough, 119 in Northumberland, 46 in Kawartha Lakes, and 12 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,073 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (922 resolved with 12 deaths), 651 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (563 resolved with 55 deaths), 690 in Northumberland County (563 resolved with 12 deaths), 85 in Haliburton County (72 resolved with 1 death), and 781 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (626 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: 1,073 (increase of 19)*
Total variants of concern cases: 310 (decrease of 2)
Active cases: 139 (increase of 7)
Close contacts: 421 (increase of 13)
Deaths: 12 (no change)
Resolved: 922 (increase of 11)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 36 (no change)**
Total tests completed: Over 48,100 (increase of 110)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home 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, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #6 in Peterborough (increase of 1)***
Vaccine doses administered: 39,772 (increase of 5,160 as of April 15)
*The health unit is reporting 18 new cases in the last 24 hours, with 1 case added to a previous day increasing the total case count by 19.
**As of April 15, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 17 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (a decrease of 7) and a total of 40 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***An outbreak at an unidentified workplace (#6) in Peterborough was declared on April 15.
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: 1,426, including 651 in Kawartha Lakes, 690 in Northumberland, and 85 in Haliburton (increase of 30, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 203, including 67 in Kawartha Lakes, 131 in Northumberland, and 5 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 7 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)**
Active cases: 177, including 46 in Kawartha Lakes, 119 in Northumberland, and 12 in Haliburton (net decrease of 3)
Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)
High-risk contacts: Not available***
Hospitalizations (total to date): 55, including 32 in Kawartha Lakes, 20 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)****
Deaths (including among probable cases): 68, including 55 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,194, including 563 in Kawartha Lakes, 559 in Northumberland, and 72 in Haliburton (increase of 17, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 14 in Northumberland)
Tests completed: 171,316 (increase of 3,908)
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, North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft (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.
***As of April 14, the health unit is no longer reporting high-risk contacts due to a “process change of not collecting high risk information”.
****As of April 15, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
An outbreak at North Hope Central Public School in Campbellcroft was declared on April 14.
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: 781 (increase of 20)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 187 (increase of 32)
Active cases: 148 (decrease of 2)
Deaths: 7 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 13 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 5 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator (total to date): 1 (no change)
Resolved: 626 (increase of 22)
Tests completed: 93,270
Vaccine doses administered: 46,578 (increase of 3,260)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,261 (increase of 37)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Trenton, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Belleville, Tri-board Bus #499 in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville (decrease of 1)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified congregate living facility in Quinte West was declared resolved on April 14.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 403,571 (increase of 4,736)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 27,278 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,811); 95 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 11); 191 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 15)*
VOC R(t): 1.23 (last updated April 2)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 4,208 (increase of 205)
Positivity rate: 8.0% (decrease of 0.6%)
Resolved: 357,591 (increase of 3,174), 88.6% of all cases (decrease of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 1,932 (increase of 55)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 659 (increase of 17)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 442 (increase of 20)
Deaths: 7,639 (increase of 29)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 21 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,908 (no change)
Total tests completed: 13,358,225 (increase of 65,559)
Tests under investigation: 39,682 (increase of 5,566)
Vaccination doses administered: 3,528,404 (increase of 105,430), 23.95% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.72%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 339,491 (increase of 2,285), 2.30% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.01%)***
*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.
