Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 3,732 new cases today, including 1,198 in Toronto and triple-digit increases in 8 other health units. However, the seven-day average of daily cases continues to decrease, falling by 30 today to 3,588.
There are 2,871 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 10 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 103 new cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
Hospitalizations have fallen significantly, but not all hospitals submitted data for today’s report. There’s been a small decrease in the number of ICU admissions and a larger decrease of patients on ventilators. Ontario is reporting 23 deaths today, with no deaths in long-term care homes, and the seven-day average of new deaths remains unchanged at 27.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report (including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward) and an additional 9 cases resolved, with the number of active cases increasing by 2 to 252. Information for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton is unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue updates on Sundays.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (1,198), Peel (797), York (306), Hamilton (237), Durham (232), Ottawa (180), Halton (129), Niagara (119), and Simcoe Muskoka (102).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Middlesex-London (84), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (50), Windsor-Essex (46), Brant (44), Waterloo (33), Haldimand-Norfolk (26), Eastern Ontario (23), Lambton (14), Renfrew (13), Northwestern (12), Southwestern (12), and Peterborough (11), with smaller increases in Porcupine (9), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (9), Hastings Prince Edward (8), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (8), and Chatham-Kent (6).
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, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,474) among people ages 20-39 followed by 1,080 cases among people ages 40-59 and 686 cases among people 19 and under.
With 3,947 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 90.4% — the 13th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 1.2% to 8.5%, meaning that 85 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 1.
Ontario is reporting 23 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 27 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
The number of hospitalizations has decreased by 191 to 1,961, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report, so the number of hospitalized patients may actually be higher. Tthe number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 5 to 895, with the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators decreasing by 22 to 615.
A total of 45,301 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 6,439 to 20,091.
A total of 5,324,369 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 76,685 from yesterday, with 375,280 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 1,721 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.55% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.01% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 36.14% of the population, an increase of 0.52% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 11 new cases to report, including 7 in Peterborough and 4 in Hastings Prince Edward. Information for Kawartha Lakes, Northumberland, and Haliburton is unavailable as the Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge District Health Unit does not issue updates on Sundays.
There is 1 additional patient on a ventilator in Hastings Prince Edward,
There are 30 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward and 15 in Peterborough.
An additional 9 cases have been resolved, including 6 in Peterborough and 3 in Hastings Prince Edward.
There are currently 252 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, an increase of 2 from yesterday, including 85 in Hastings Prince Edward (18 in Quinte West, 49 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 10 in Prince Edward County, 5 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 78 in Peterborough, 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,238 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,146 resolved with 14 deaths), 738 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (650 resolved with 56 deaths), 820 in Northumberland County (768 resolved with 14 deaths), 103 in Haliburton County (96 resolved with 1 death), and 942 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (847 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: 1,238 (increase of 7)
Total variants of concern cases: 460 (increase of 15)
Active cases: 78 (increase of 1)
Close contacts: 199 (decrease of 12)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,146 (increase of 6)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)*
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,150 (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, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 56,409 (increase of 12,806 as of April 29)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,211 (increase of 1,730 as of April 29)
*As of April 30, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 16 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 62 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
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. This information is from May 1; data for May 2 will be included in the May 3 report.
Confirmed positive: 1,661, including 738 in Kawartha Lakes, 820 in Northumberland, and 103 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 8 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 385, including 130 in Kawartha Lakes, 234 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 7, including 5 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Haliburton)
Active cases: 89, including 45 in Kawartha Lakes, 38 in Northumberland, and 6 in Haliburton (net decrease of 1)
Probable cases: 7, including 3 in Kawartha Lakes and 4 in Northumberland (no change)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 60, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 24 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,514, including 650 in Kawartha Lakes, 768 in Northumberland, and 96 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 180,957 (increase of 427)
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, Summersweet Custom Design & Build Inc. in Haliburton, Transition House shelter in Cobourg, Carressent Care Mary Street in Lindsay, Adelaide Place in Lindsay (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.
**As of April 30, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 8 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
***An outbreak at Adelaide Place in Lindsay was declared on April 30.
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: 942 (increase of 4)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 317 (increase of 15)
Active cases: 85 (increase of 1)
Deaths: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 19 (decrease of 1)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 9 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 4 (increase of 1)
Resolved: 847 (increase of 3)
Tests completed: 131,896 (increase of 3,600)
Vaccine doses administered: 60,732 (increase of 119)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,052 (increase of 5)
Outbreaks: Unidentified workplace in Prince Edward County, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified congregate living facility in Belleville, Unidentified child care facility in Quinte West (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 470,465 (increase of 3,732)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 72,313 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,871); 291 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 10); 875 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 103)*
VOC R(t): 0.89 (decrease of 0.04 as April 27)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,588 (decrease of 30)
Positivity rate: 8.5% (increase of 1.2%)
Resolved: 425,163 (increase of 3,947), 90.4% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,961 (decrease of 191)***
Hospitalizations in ICU: 895 (decrease of 5)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 615 (decrease of 22)
Deaths: 8,102 (increase of 23)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 27 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,918 (no change)
Total tests completed: 14,197,942 (increase of 45,301)
Tests under investigation: 20,091 (decrease of 6,439)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,324,369 (increase of 76,685), 36.14% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.52%)****
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 375,280 (increase of 1,721), 2.55% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.01%)****
*While Ontario’s daily update still 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.
***More than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for this report, so the number of hospitalizations 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.
