Ontario reports just over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases, positivity rate drops

Ontario is reporting 1,172 new COVID-19 cases and 67 deaths on Wednesday.

Locally, there are 444 new cases in Toronto, 199 in Peel and 110 in York Region.

An error in the data system resulted in a negative case count for Toronto on Tuesday. The province said they anticipate a fluctuation in case numbers in the following days as the data issues correct themselves.

Besides the low number a day ago as a result of data problems, the daily case count is the lowest the province has seen since Nov. 24. Tuesday’s numbers saw the province dip below 1,000 for the first time since Nov. 5.

The province reports over 52,400 tests completed, almost double the nearly 28,600 tests completed a day ago.

The test positivity rate drops to 3.3 per cent from 4.6 per cent on Tuesday. It is the lowest positivity rate the province has seen in the new year.

So far there have been 106 confirmed cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first detected in the UK and one case of the B 1.351 variant first detected in South Africa.

The province reported 745 cases and 14 deaths on Tuesday with a negative case count from Toronto Public Health.

The rolling seven-day average of new cases drops to 1,675. That number increased on Monday for the first time since Jan. 11 where it peaked at 3,555. The last time the seven-day average was lower was over two months ago on Dec. 1.

There is now a total of 272,097 confirmed cases in the province since the onset of the pandemic with 6,305 deaths. Of the confirmed cases 16,811 are active and 248,981 have been resolved.

There are 1,745 more resolved cases.

As of 8:00 p.m. Monday, 348,331 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered and 74,994 people have been fully vaccinated.

Among the active cases, 1,066 people are currently in the hospital. Hospitalizations are down over 300 from one week ago.

Among the hospitalized, 336 are in the ICU and 254 are on ventilators.