
Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
With Ontario reporting 2,791 new cases today, the second straight day of cases under 3,000, Ontario health minister Christine Elliott said 43% of Ontario adults have now received their first dose of vaccine.
“We expect to administer first doses to 65% of Ontarians aged 18 and over by the end of May — nearly 7.9 million Ontarians,” Elliott said during a media briefing at Queen’s Park this afternoon. “The light of the end of the tunnel grows brighter with every vaccine administered.”
Elliott’s remarks came on the same day that Health Canada announced it had approved the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine for use in children and youth aged 12 through 15, lowering the previous recommended age of 16 and older. It is the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in Canada for the younger age group, with the three other available vaccines — Moderna, AstraZeneca, and the recently approved Johnson & Johnson — currently limited to those 18 and over.
Of today’s new cases, Toronto and 8 other health units are reporting triple-digit increases, with the seven-day average of daily cases falling by 77 to 3,432 and the number of active cases continuing to decline. There are 2,862 more cases of the B.1.1.7 UK variant, 8 more cases of the B.1.351 South Africa, and 30 more cases of the P.1 Brazilian variant.
Hospitalizations and ICU admissions have both decreased, but the number of patients on ventilators has climbed. Ontario is reporting 44 deaths today, including 1 new death in a long-term care home. This is the highest single-day increase since February 18 when 47 new deaths were reported.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 30 new cases to report (including 11 in Peterborough, 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland) and an additional 31 cases resolved, with the number of active cases decreasing by 3 to 199. There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Hastings Prince Edward, the region’s 10th death.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (924), Peel (565), York (254), Durham (171), Hamilton (149), Ottawa (140), Middlesex-London (114), Halton (114), and Niagara (108).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Simcoe Muskoka (65), Windsor-Essex (47), Waterloo (45), Brant (31), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (27), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (25), Southwestern (18), Lambton (17), Haldimand-Norfolk (17), Hastings Prince Edward (15), Eastern Ontario (12), Leeds, Grenville & Lanark (12), Peterborough (12), and Huron Perth (11), with smaller increases in Sudbury (9), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (9), and Thunder Bay (8).
The remaining 8 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 1 health unit (Algoma) reporting no new cases.
Of today’s new cases, 58% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (1,194) among people ages 20-39 followed by 871 cases among people ages 40-59 and 523 cases among people 19 and under.
With 4,361 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.4% to at 91.0% — the 16th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has dropped by 2.5% to 6.6%, meaning that 66 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 4.
Ontario is reporting 44 new COVID-19 deaths today, with 1 new death in a long-term care homes. This is the highest single-day increase since February 18 when 47 new deaths were reported. Ontario has averaged 28 new daily deaths over the past week, an increase of 2 from yesterday.
The number of hospitalizations has fallen by 92 to 2,075, with the number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs decreasing by 4 to 886 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators increasing by 11 to 620.
A total of 45,767 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation rising by 4,130 to 29,179.
A total of 5,599,723 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 132,603 from yesterday, with 381,123 people fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 3,038 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.59% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 38.01% of the population, an increase of 0.90% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 30 new cases to report, including 11 in Peterborough, 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
There are 10 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, 3 in Peterborough, and 2 in Kawartha Lakes.
There has been 1 new COVID-related death in Hastings Prince Edward and 1 new hospitalization in Northumberland. An outbreak involving 3 cases in the ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital was declared on May 4.
An additional 31 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Peterborough, 10 in Hastings Prince Edward, 8 in Northumberland, 1 in Kawartha Lakes, and 1 in Haliburton. An outbreak at Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough was declared resolved on May 5.
There are currently 199 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 3 from yesterday, including 73 in Peterborough, 72 in Hastings Prince Edward (11 in Quinte West, 42 in Belleville, 1 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 11 in Prince Edward County, 3 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), 27 in Northumberland, 24 in Kawartha Lakes, and 3 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,265 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,178 resolved with 14 deaths), 738 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (671 resolved with 56 deaths), 830 in Northumberland County (789 resolved with 14 deaths), 105 in Haliburton County (101 resolved with 1 death), and 969 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (887 resolved with 10 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Hastings Prince Edward on May 5.
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: 1,265 (increase of 10)*
Total variants of concern cases: 470 (increase of 3)
Active cases: 73 (decrease of 1)
Close contacts: 204 (decrease of 9)
Deaths: 14 (no change)
Resolved: 1,178 (increase of 11)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 53 (no change)**
ICU admissions (total to date): 8 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 50,400 (increase of 150)
Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #5 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #7 in Peterborough, Unidentified workplace #8 in Peterborough, Sunshine Daycare in Peterborough, Unidentified home child care centre #1 in Peterborough County (decrease of 1)***
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)
*The health unit is reporting 11 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 10 because 1 case has been removed from a previous day.
**As of May 5, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 15 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 2) and a total of 67 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***An outbreak at Empress Gardens retirement home in Peterborough was declared resolved on May 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.
Confirmed positive: 1,673, including 738 in Kawartha Lakes, 830 in Northumberland, and 105 in Haliburton (increase of 8, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 2 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 403, including 139 in Kawartha Lakes, 243 in Northumberland, and 21 in Haliburton (increase of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
Active cases: 54, including 24 in Kawartha Lakes, 27 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (net decrease of 2)
Probable cases: 0 (decrease of 2, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 61, including 33 in Kawartha Lakes, 25 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Northumberland)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 71, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 14 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,561, including 671 in Kawartha Lakes, 789 in Northumberland, and 101 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 1 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 182,778 (increase of 625)
Vaccine doses administered: 72,365 (increase of 7,412 as of May 3)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,271 (increase of 723 as of May 3)
Outbreaks: Transition House shelter in Cobourg (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 May 5, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 7 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: 969 (increase of 11)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 338 (increase of 5)
Active cases: 72 (no change)
Deaths: 10 (increase of 1)
Currently hospitalized: 15 (decrease of 3)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 7 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 6 (no change)
Resolved: 887 (increase of 10)
Tests completed: 132,220 (increase of 12)
Vaccine doses administered: 63,258 (increase of 1,622)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 4,388 (increase of 290)
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, ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital (increase of 1)*
*An outbreak involving 3 cases in the ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital was declared on May 4.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 479,633 (increase of 2,941)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 80,511 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,862); 317 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 8); 1,001 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 30)*
VOC R(t): 0.92 (increase of 0.03 as April 30)**
7-day average of daily new cases: 3,432 (decrease of 77)
Positivity rate: 6.6% (decrease of 2.5%)
Resolved: 436,470 (increase of 4,361), 91.0% of all cases (increase of 0.4%)
Hospitalizations: 2,075 (decrease of 92)
Hospitalizations in ICU: 882 (decrease of 4)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 620 (increase of 11)
Deaths: 8,187 (increase of 44)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 28 (increase of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,929 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 14,310,628 (increase of 45,767)
Tests under investigation: 29,179 (increase of 4,130)
Vaccination doses administered: 5,599,723 (increase of 132,603), 38.01% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.90%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 381,123 (increase of 3,038), 2.59% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)***
*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.
***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.