Here’s an update on COVID-19 cases in Ontario as well as in the greater Kawarthas region.
Ontario is reporting 1,616 new cases today — the lowest increase since March 23 when 1,571 cases were reported. However, Ontario has averaged one-third fewer tests than usual over each of the past 2 days.
Of Ontario’s 34 health units, 5 are reporting triple-digit increases. The seven-day average of daily cases has decreased to 2,287, and the proportion of active cases has declined for the 29th straight day.
Hospitalizations have increased significantly since yesterday, but yesterday’s number was likely underreported. The number of ICU patients has decreased but the number of patients on ventilators has increased. Ontario is reporting 17 deaths today, including 1 death in a long-term care home.
Ontario has now administered over 7.2 million doses of vaccine, with a record number of more than 9,300 people fully vaccinated yesterday. Of Ontario’s total population, almost 50% have received at least a single dose and 3% have received both doses.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 26 new cases to report (including 11 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland), with an additional 27 cases resolved. Active cases have increased in Peterborough and Kawartha Lakes and have decreased elsewhere, with the net number of active cases across the region decreasing by 3 to 238.
Most of the new cases reported today are in Toronto (472), Peel (360), York (116), Hamilton (114), and Durham (102).
There are double-digit increases reported today in Waterloo (75), Halton (60), Ottawa (56), Niagara (47), Middlesex-London (39), Simcoe Muskoka (38), Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph (20), Brant (19), Windsor-Essex (14), and Hastings Prince Edward (13), with smaller increases in Eastern Ontario (9), Haliburton, Kawartha, Pine Ridge (9), North Bay Parry Sound (8), Haldimand-Norfolk (8), Porcupine (7), Kingston, Frontenac and Lennox & Addington (6), and Southwestern (6).
The remaining 12 health units are reporting 5 or fewer new cases, with 4 health units (Thunder Bay, Algoma, Sudbury, and Leeds, Grenville & Lanark) reporting no new cases at all.
Of today’s new cases, 64% are among people 39 and younger, with the highest number of cases (688) among people ages 20-39 followed by 392 cases among people ages 40-59 and 349 cases among people 19 and under.
With 2,502 more cases resolved since yesterday, the percentage of resolved cases has increased by 0.2% to at 93.5% — the 29th straight day the percentage of resolved cases has increased. The average positivity rate across Ontario has decreased by 0.3% to 7.6%, meaning that 76 out of every 1,000 tests performed were positive for COVID-19 on May 17.
Ontario is reporting 17 new COVID-19 deaths today, including 1 new death in a long-term care home. Ontario has averaged 23 new daily deaths over the past week (no change from yesterday).
Hospitalizations have increased by 164 to 1,484, but the increase may in part be attributed to underreporting by more than 10% of hospitals over the past 2 days. The number of patients with COVID-19 in ICUs has decreased by 15 to 764 but the number of patients with COVID-19 on ventilators has risen by 23 to 559.
A total of 22,915 tests were completed yesterday, with the backlog of tests under investigation increasing by 11,365 to 20,325. Ontario has only averaged around 24,000 daily tests over the past 2 days, well under the 39,000 seven-day daily average.
A total of 7,286,177 doses of vaccine have now been administered, an increase of 109,032 from yesterday, and 442,102 people have been fully vaccinated with both doses of vaccine, a record increase of 9,342 from yesterday.
The number of fully vaccinated people represents 3% of Ontario’s population, an increase of 0.06% from yesterday, with fully and partially vaccinated people representing 49.45% of the total population, an increase of 0.74% from yesterday. An estimated 70-90% of the population must be immunized to achieve herd immunity.
In the greater Kawarthas region, there are 26 new cases to report, including 11 in Peterborough, 9 in Kawartha Lakes, 5 in Hastings Prince Edward, and 1 in Northumberland. There are no new cases in Haliburton.
An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough County was declared on May 17. An outbreak in Unit 5 and the kitchen at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay was declared on May 17.
There are 2 new hospitalizations in Peterborough.
There are 34 new regional cases of variants of concern, including 23 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 3 in Northumberland, and 2 in Hastings Prince Edward.
An additional 27 cases have been resolved, including 11 in Hastings Prince Edward, 7 in Peterborough, 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton. An outbreak at the ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital was declared resolved on May 18.
There are currently 238 active cases in the greater Kawarthas region, a decrease of 3 from yesterday, including 106 in Peterborough, 55 in Hastings Prince Edward (14 in Quinte West, 17 in Belleville, 2 in Tyendinaga & Deseronto, 5 in Prince Edward County, 16 in Central Hastings, and 1 in North Hastings), 39 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 7 in Haliburton.
Since the pandemic began in the greater Kawarthas region, there have been 1,405 confirmed positive cases in the Peterborough area (1,281 resolved with 18 deaths), 832 in the City of Kawartha Lakes (750 resolved with 56 deaths), 882 in Northumberland County (835 resolved with 16 deaths), 119 in Haliburton County (111 resolved with 1 death), and 1,071 in Hastings and Prince Edward counties (1,006 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: 1,405 (increase of 10)*
Total variants of concern cases: 593 (increase of 23)
Active cases: 106 (increase of 3)
Close contacts: 360 (increase of 45)
Deaths: 18 (no change)
Resolved: 1,281 (increase of 7)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 63 (increase of 2)**
ICU admissions (total to date): 13 (no change)
Total tests completed: Over 51,550 (increase of 50)
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, Unidentified workplace #10 in Peterborough County (increase of 1)***
*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 18, Peterborough Regional Health Centre is reporting 8 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 3) and a total of 73 patients transferred from other areas as a result of a provincial directive (no change).
***An outbreak at an unidentified workplace in Peterborough County was declared on May 17.
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: 1,833, including 832 in Kawartha Lakes, 882 in Northumberland, and 119 in Haliburton (increase of 10, including 9 in Kawartha Lakes and 1 in Northumberland)*
Total variants of concern cases: 531, including 216 in Kawartha Lakes, 282 in Northumberland, and 33 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes and 3 in Northumberland)
Active cases: 77, including 39 in Kawartha Lakes, 31 in Northumberland, and 7 in Haliburton (net increase of 1)
Probable cases: 1 in Northumberland (decrease of 2 in Kawartha Lakes)
Hospitalizations (total to date): 67, including 36 in Kawartha Lakes, 29 in Northumberland, and 3 in Haliburton (no change)**
Deaths (including among probable cases): 73, including 56 in Kawartha Lakes, 16 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton (no change)
Resolved: 1,696, including 750 in Kawartha Lakes, 835 in Northumberland, and 111 in Haliburton (increase of 9, including 6 in Kawartha Lakes, 2 in Northumberland, and 1 in Haliburton)
Tests completed: 188,837 (increase of 973)
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, Unit 5 and kitchen at Central East Correctional Centre 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 May 18, Ross Memorial Hospital in Lindsay reports 5 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 (decrease of 1).
***An outbreak in Unit 5 and the kitchen at Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay was declared on May 17.
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: 1,071 (increase of 5)
Confirmed variants of concern cases: 426 (increase of 2)
Active cases: 55 (decrease of 7)
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: 1,006 (increase of 11)
Tests completed: 139,856 (increase of 261)
Vaccine doses administered: 74,800 (increase of 1,566)
Number of people fully vaccinated: 6,026 (increase of 270)
Outbreaks: Quinte 5 at 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 (decrease of 2)*
*An outbreak at the ICU of QHC Belleville General Hospital was declared resolved on May 18.
Province of Ontario
Confirmed positive: 513,102 (increase of 1,616)
COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) cases: 110,956 of B.1.1.7 UK variant (increase of 2,155); 681 of B.1.351 South Africa variant (increase of 2); 2,031 of P.1 Brazilian variant (increase of 10)
VOC R(t): 0.87 (decrease of 0.05 as May 8)*
7-day average of daily new cases: 2,287 (decrease of 65)
Positivity rate: 7.6% (decrease of 0.3%)
Resolved: 479,630 (increase of 2,502), 93.5% of all cases (increase of 0.2%)
Hospitalizations: 1,484 (increase of 164)**
Hospitalizations in ICU: 764 (decrease of 15)
Hospitalizations in ICU on ventilator: 559 (increase of 23)
Deaths: 8,506 (increase of 17)
7-day average of daily new deaths: 23 (no change)
Deaths of residents in long-term care homes: 3,940 (increase of 1)
Total tests completed: 14,817,959 (increase of 22,915)
Tests under investigation: 20,325 (increase of 11,365)
Vaccination doses administered: 7,286,177 (increase of 109,032), 49.45% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.74%)***
People fully vaccinated (two doses): 442,102 (increase of 9,342), 3.00% of Ontario’s population (increase of 0.06%)***
*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 increase in the number of hospitalizations may in part be attributed to underreporting by more than 10% of hospitals over the past 2 days.
***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.
