Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 2,170 new cases today, with triple-digit increases in 5 of Ontario’s 34 health units. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased to 2,352 and the proportion of active cases continues to decline for the 28th day in a row.
Hospitalizations have increased, and the number of hospitalizations may actually be higher as more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report. Both the number of ICU patients and the number of patients on ventilators have decreased. Ontario is reporting only 4 deaths today, well below the seven-day average of 23, with no new deaths in long-term care homes.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 47 new cases to report (including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward, 12 in Northumberland, 9 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton), with an additional 48 cases resolved and the number of active cases across the region remaining unchanged at 241. See below for details from each health unit in the region.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (566), Peel (556), York (215), Durham (120), and Hamilton (101).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Halton (91), Ottawa (90), Waterloo (75), Simcoe Muskoka (59), Niagara (59), Windsor-Essex (32), Middlesex-London (30), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (21), Porcupine (20), Peterborough (20), Brant (17), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (16), Southwestern (13), Lambton (11), Eastern Ontario (10), and Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (10), with smaller increases in Sudbury (7) and Renfrew (7).
The remaining 11 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 3 health units (Thunder Bay, Algoma, and Timiskaming) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 61% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (878) among people ages 20-39 followed by 598 cases among people ages 40-59 and 434 cases among people 19 and under.
With 2,953 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 93.3% — the 28th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has increased by 1.1% to 7.9%, meaning that 78 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 16.
Ontario is reporting 4 new COVID-19 deaths today, with no new deaths in long-term care homes. Ontario has averaged 23 new daily deaths over the past week, a decrease of 2 from yesterday.
Hospitalizations have increased by 28 to 1,320, but more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report so the actual number of hospitalizations may be higher. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 6 to 779 and the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has fallen by 16 to 536.
A total of 24,498 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation decreasing by 3,599 to 8,960.
A total of 7,177,145 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 112,330 from yesterday, and 432,760 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, an increase of 3,124 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 2.94% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.02% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 48.71% of the total population, an increase of 0.76% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 47 new cases to report, including 15 in Hastings Prince Edward, 12 in Northumberland, 9 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, and 2 in Haliburton.
There is 1 new hospitalization in Kawartha Lakes.
There are 39 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 12 in Peterborough, 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 8 in Hastings Prince Edward, 6 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton.
An additional 48 cases have been resolved, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Peterborough, 9 in Northumberland, 7 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 4 in Haliburton.
There are currently 241 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region (no net change from yesterday), including 103 in Peterborough, 62 in Hastings Prince Edward (15 in Quinte West, 21 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 5 in Prince Edward County, 16 in Central Hastings, and 3 in North Hastings), 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 32 in Northumberland, and 8 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,395 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,274 resolved with 18 deaths), 823 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (744 resolved with 56 deaths), 881 in Northumberland County (833 resolved with 16 deaths), 119 in Haliburton County (110 resolved with 1 death), and 1,067 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (995 resolved with 10 deaths). The most recent death was reported in Peterborough on May 16.
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: 1,395 (increase of 8)*
Total variants of concern cases: 570 (increase of 12)
Active cases: 103 (decrease of 4)
Close contacts: 315 (increase of 22)
Deaths: 18 (no change)
Resolved: 1,274 (increase of 12)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 61 (no change)**
ICU admissions (total to date): 13 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 51,500 (increase of 200)
Total vaccine doses administered (residents and non-residents): 66,045 (increase of 5,618 as of May 14)
Number of residents who have received first dose: 60,524
Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,575 (increase of 154 as of May 14)
Outbreaks: Unidentified congregate living facility #3 in Peterborough, Helping Hands Day Care in Peterborough County, Unidentified workplace #9 in Peterborough County (no change)
*The health unit is reporting 9 new cases in the last 24 hours. The total case count has increased by 8 because 1 case has been removed from a previous day.
**As of May 17, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 12 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (no change) and a total of 73 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. As the health unit does not issue a report on Sundays, these numbers are for both May 16 and 17.
Confirmed positive: 1,823, including 823 in Kawartha Lakes, 881 in Northumberland, and 119 in Haliburton (increase of 23, including 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 12 in Northumberland, and 2 in Haliburton)*
Total variants of concern cases: 522, including 210 in Kawartha Lakes, 279 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 19, including 10 in Kawartha Lakes, 6 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton)
Active cases: 76, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 32 in Northumberland, and 8 in Haliburton (net decrease of 5)
Probable cases: 3, including 2 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland (decrease of 3 in Kawartha Lakes)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 67, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 29 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (increase of 1 in Kawartha Lakes)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 73, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 16 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,687, including 744 in Kawartha Lakes, 833 in Northumberland, and 110 in Haliburton (increase of 29, including 16 in Kawartha Lakes, 9 in Northumberland, and 4 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 184,448
Vaccine doses administered to residents: 85,785 (increase of 6,353 as of May 17)
Number of residents fully vaccinated: 4,877 (increase of 415 as of May 17)
Outbreaks: Staples and Swain Law Office in Lindsay, OPP Offender Transport Lindsay, Dairy Queen in Lindsay (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 17, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 6 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: 1,067 (increase of 15)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 424 (increase of 8)
Active cases: 62 (increase of 9)
Deaths: 10 (no change)
Currently hospitalized: 14 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU: 6 (no change)
Currently hospitalized and in ICU on ventilator: 5 (no change)
Resolved: 995 (increase of 6)
Tests completed: 139,595 (no change)
Vaccine doses administered: 73,234 (no change)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 5,756 (no change)
Outbreaks: Quinte 5 at QHC Belleville General Hospital, ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital, Unidentified child care facility in Belleville, Unidentified workplace in Belleville, Unidentified workplace in Central Hastings, Community outbreak in Hastings Highlands in North Hastings (no change)
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 511,486 (increase of 2,170)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 108,801 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 1,260); 679 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 2,021 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 38)
VOC R(t): 0.87 (decrease of 0.05 as May 8)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 2,352 (decrease of 78)
Positivity rate: 7.9% (increase of 1.1%)
Resolved: 477,128 (increase of 2,953), 93.3% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,320 (increase of 28)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 779 (decrease of 6)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 536 (decrease of 16)
Deaths: 8,489 (increase of 4)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 23 (decrease of 2)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,939 (no change)
Total tests completed: 14,795,044 (increase of 24,498)
Tests under investigation: 8,960 (decrease of 3,599)
Vaccination doses administered: 7,177,145 (increase of 112,330), 48.71% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.76%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 432,760 (increase of 3,124), 2.94% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.02%)***
*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.
**The number of hospitalizations may actually be higher as more than 10% of hospitals did not submit data for today’s report.
***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.
