Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Today, Ontario is reporting 3,480 new cases, with 9 health units reporting triple-digit increases. Toronto is reporting fewer than 1,000 cases for the first time since April 10, and the province says case counts in the central west region may be inflated due to a catch-up in processing laboratory data.
The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased by 105 to 3,783. There are 2,932 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 21 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 34 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
Hospitalizations have decreased, with a slight increase in the number of ICU admissions and a larger increase in the number of patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 24 deaths today, including 2 deaths in long-term care homes.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 37 new cases to report (including 13 in Hastings Prince Edward, 11 in Peterborough, 8 in Kawartha Lakes, and 5 in Northumberland) and an additional 34 cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 5 to 249. There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough — the 14th death in Peterborough and the third death in the greater Kawarthas region in the past two days.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (961), Peel (589), Niagara (341), York (290), Hamilton (225), Durham (221), Ottawa (180), Middlesex-London (133), and Halton (116).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Waterloo (66), Simcoe Muskoka (65), Windsor-Essex (38), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (34), Brant (30), Haldimand-Norfolk (23), Eastern Ontario (19), Southwestern (17), Hastings Prince Edward (12), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (12), Sudbury (11), and Peterborough (10), with smaller increases in Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (8), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (8), Huron Perth (8), Lambton (7), and Thunder Bay (6).
The remaining 8 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, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,383) among people ages 20-39 followed by 982 cases among people ages 40-59 and 648 cases among people 19 and under.
With 4,517 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.3% to at 89.7% — the ninth straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has dropped by 3.0% to 7.2%, meaning that 72 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on April 27.
Ontario is reporting 24 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 2 new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 28 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 2 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations has decreased by 55 to 2,281, but the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has increased by 2 to 877 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has increased by 16 to 605.
A total of 50,194 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 5,482 to 34,746.
A total of 4,907,203 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 116,173 from yesterday, with 365,166 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 2,603 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.48% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 33.31% of the population, an increase of 0.79% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 37 new cases to report, including 13 in Hastings Prince Edward, 11 in Peterborough, 8 in Kawartha Lakes, and 5 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Peterborough.
An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville, involving 2 cases, was declared on April 28. An outbreak was declared at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough on April 28. There are 4 new hospitalizations in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 new hospitalizations in Peterborough, and 2 new hospitalizations in Northumberland.
There are 18 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Peterborough, 3 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton.
An additional 34 cases have been resolved, including 17 in Peterborough, 6 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Northumberland, 4 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton.
There are currently 249 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 5 from yesterday, including 84 in Hastings Prince Edward (15 in Quinte West, 46 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 7 in Prince Edward County, 12 in Central Hastings, and 2 in North Hastings), 81 in Peterborough, 44 in Northumberland, 36 in Kawartha Lakes, and 4 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,207 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,112 resolved with 14 deaths), 714 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (635 resolved with 56 deaths), 810 in Northumberland County (752 resolved with 14 deaths), 98 in Haliburton County (92 resolved with 1 death), and 907 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (813 resolved with 9 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on April 28.
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: 1,207 (increase of 9)*
Total variants of concern cases: 422 (increase of 6)
Active cases: 81 (decrease of 9)
Close contacts: 233 (increase of 6)
Deaths: 14 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 1,112 (increase of 17)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 52 (increase of 3)**
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 49,750 (increase of 150)
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, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough (increase of 1)***
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 11 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 9 because 2 cases has been removed from previous days.
**As of April 28, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 18 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (increase of 1) and a total of 62 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (increase of 2).
***An outbreak was declared at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough on April 28.
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: 1,622, including 714 in Kawartha Lakes, 810 in Northumberland, and 98 in Haliburton (increase of 13, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 5 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 357, including 113 in Kawartha Lakes, 225 in Northumberland, and 19 in Haliburton (increase of 12, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Active cases: 85, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 44 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton (no net change)
Probable cases: 4 in Northumberland (decrease of 1)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 59, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 23 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Northumberland)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,479, including 635 in Kawartha Lakes, 752 in Northumberland, and 92 in Haliburton (increase of 11, including 4 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 179,298 (increase of 638)
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 (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.
**As of April 28, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 10 patients 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: 907 (increase of 13)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 280 (no change)
Active cases: 84 (increase of 5)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 20 (increase of 4)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 7 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 4 (no change)
Resolved: 813 (increase of 6)
Tests completed: 128,285 (increase of 8)
Vaccine doses administered: 65,804 (increase of 1,872)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 3,977 (increase of 5)
Outbreaks: Unidentified community outbreak in Belleville, Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville (increase of 1)*
*An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Belleville, involving 2 cases, was declared on April 28.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 455,606 (increase of 3,480)*
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 60,355 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,932); 220 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 21); 405 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 34)**
VOC R(t): 0.94 (as of April 23)***
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,783 (decrease of 105)
Positivity rate: 7.2% (decrease of 3.0%)
Resolved: 408,765 (increase of 4,517), 89.7% of all cases (increase of 0.3%)
Hospitalizations: 2,281 (decrease of 55)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 877 (increase of 2)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 605 (increase of 16)
Deaths: 7,988 (increase of 24)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 28 (decrease of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,919 (increase of 2)
Total tests completed: 13,995,825 (increase of 50,194)
Tests under investigation: 34,746 (increase of 5,482)
Vaccination doses administered: 4,907,203 (increase of 116,173), 33.31% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.79%)****
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 365,166 (increase of 2,603), 2.48% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)****
*Counts for some health units in the central west region may be higher in today’s report in part due to a catch-up in processing laboratory data into the provincial case and contact management system.
**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.
***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.
