Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 3,510 new cases today, with Toronto reporting 1,051 cases and 5 other health units reporting triple-digit increases. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased by 135 to 3,917 — the first time since April 13 the seven-day average has dropped below 4,000. There are 2,038 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant and 84 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
After three days of decreases, hospitalizations have increased again, and more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report so the number of patients may actually be higher than reported. The number of ICU admissions and patients on ventilators have both reached new record highs.
The Ontario government has made a formal request to the Canadian Armed Forces to provide specialized nurses to assist in ICUs and other medical personnel for hospitals, as well as “logistical and operational support as we seek to augment our response to COVID-19”, according to a statement from Solicitor General Sylvia Jones’ office.
Ontario is reporting 24 deaths today, with 200 deaths reporting over the past week. One of those deaths included 13-year-old Emily Victoria Viegas of Brampton, who died on April 22 after contracting COVID-19 and developing pneumonia.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 40 new cases to report and an additional 61 cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 22 to 246.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (1,051), Peel (909), York (391), Durham (244), Ottawa (206), and Halton (143).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Middlesex-London (83), Simcoe Muskoka (79), Hamilton (71), Windsor-Essex (62), Waterloo (49), Haldimand-Norfolk (29), Brant (28), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (28), Niagara (23), Sudbury (18), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (17), Southwestern (16), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (15), Eastern Ontario (11), and Peterborough (10), with smaller increases in Grey Bruce (9), Renfrew (8), Chatham-Kent (8), Northwestern (7), Hastings Prince Edward (7), and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (7).
The remaining 7 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 1 health unit (Porcupine) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 57% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,326) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,021 cases among people ages 40-59 and 665 cases among people 19 and under.
With 4,057 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 89.2% — the seventh straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 2.2% to 10.9%, meaning that 109 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 25.
Ontario is reporting 24 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 29 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 1 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations has increased by 145 to 2,271, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report so the number of hospitalized patients may actually be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 26 to a new record high of 877, and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 9 to a new record high of 605.
A total of 33,822 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 8,272 to 17,369.
A total of 4,696,211 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 69,308 from yesterday, with 361,166 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 812 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.45% of Ontario’s population (no change from yesterday), with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 31.88% of the population, an increase of 0.47% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 40 new cases to report, including 13 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, 9 in Hastings Prince Edward, 4 in Peterborough, and 2 in Haliburton. Case numbers for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton are over the past 2 days, as the health unit did not issue an update on Sunday.
There are 24 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 5 in Peterborough, 5 in Northumberland, 3 in Haliburton, and 1 in Kawartha Lakes.
There are 2 new ICU admissions and 2 new patients on ventilators in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 61 cases have been resolved, including 21 in Peterborough, 20 in Northumberland, 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton. Outbreaks at Grafton Public School in Grafton and Mariposa Elementary School in Oakwood have been declared resolved.
There are currently 246 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 22 from yesterday, including 76 in Peterborough, 76 in Hastings Prince Edward (14 in Quinte West, 39 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 5 in Prince Edward County, 13 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), 46 in Northumberland, 39 in Kawartha Lakes, and 9 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,179 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,090 resolved with 13 deaths), 704 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (622 resolved with 56 deaths), 796 in Northumberland County (737 resolved with 13 deaths), 98 in Haliburton County (88 resolved with 1 death), and 882 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (797 resolved with 8 deaths). The two most recent deaths were reported in Northumberland and in Peterborough on April 20.
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: 1,179 (increase of 5)*
Total variants of concern cases: 409 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 76 (decrease of 16)
Close contacts: 247 (increase of 2)
Deaths: 13 (no change)
Resolved: 1,090 (increase of 21)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 47 (no change)**
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 49,550 (increase of 50)
Outbreaks: Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough, Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Trent Champlain Residence: West Towers in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 43,602 (increase of 2,454 as of April 22)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 2,481 (increase of 54 as of April 22)
*The health unit is reporting 4 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 5 because 1 case has been added to a previous day.
**As of April 26, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 13 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 60 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 5).
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. These numbers are for April 25 and April 26.
Confirmed positive: 1,598, including 704 in Kawartha Lakes, 796 in Northumberland, and 98 in Haliburton (increase of 27, including 13 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Cases with N501Y mutation: 339, including 103 in Kawartha Lakes, 219 in Northumberland, and 17 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton)**
Active cases: 94, including 39 in Kawartha Lakes, 46 in Northumberland, and 9 in Haliburton (net decrease of 3)
Probable cases: 3 in Northumberland (net decrease of 2)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 57, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 21 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)***
Deaths (including among probable cases): 70, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 13 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,447, including 622 in Kawartha Lakes, 737 in Northumberland, and 88 in Haliburton (increase of 30, including 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 20 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 177,843 (increase of 526)
Vaccine doses administered: 64,953 (increase of 13,242 as of April 26)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,548 (increase of 140 as of April 26)
Outbreaks: Fenelon Court long-term care home in Fenelon Falls, Grafton Post Office in Grafton, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton (decrease of 2)*****
*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 26, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 11 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 2).
****Outbreaks at Grafton Public School in Grafton and Mariposa Elementary School in Oakwood have been declared resolved.
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: 882 (increase of 9)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 275 (increase of 10)
Active cases: 76 (decrease of 3)
Deaths: 8 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 17 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 8 (increase of 2)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 4 (increase of 2)
Resolved: 797 (increase of 10)
Tests completed: 128,229 (increase of 285)
Vaccine doses administered: 63,206 (increase of 333)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,962 (increase of 2)
Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified community outbreak in Belleville, Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 448,861 (increase of 3,510)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 54,436 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,038); 162 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (decrease of 2); 351 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 84)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,917 (decrease of 135)
Positivity rate: 10.9% (increase of 2.2%)
Resolved: 400,340 (increase of 4,057), 89.2% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 2,271 (increase of 145)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 877 (increase of 26)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 605 (increase of 9)
Deaths: 7,935 (increase of 24)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 29 (increase of 1)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,914 (no change)
Total tests completed: 13,911,631 (increase of 33,822)
Tests under investigation: 17,369 (decrease of 8,272)
Vaccination doses administered: 4,696,211 (increase of 69,308), 31.88% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.47%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 361,166 (increase of 812), 2.45% of Ontario’s population (no change)***
*While Ontario’s daily update is not yet reporting this information, Public Health Ontario confirmed on April 23 that 36 cases of the B.1.617 variant, a so-called “double mutation” variant first identified in India, have been detected in Ontario.
**As more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, the number of hospitalized patients may actually be higher.
***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.
