More than 700 new COVID-19 infections have been reported in Ontario today, the largest daily case total in in two months.
COVID-19 instances increased to 711 today, up from 512 on Wednesday and 642 a week earlier, according to provincial health officials.
It’s the most infections identified in a single day since Sept. 24, when 727 were confirmed.
The rolling average of new cases over the last seven days has surpassed 600. Today’s daily average case count was 597, up from 532 last Thursday.
Five more virus-related deaths were confirmed today, bringing Ontario’s COVID-19 death toll to 9,955.
Of the new cases confirmed today, 322 involve those who are unvaccinated, 314 are in those who are fully immunized, 47 involve people with an unknown vaccination status, and 28 are in individuals who are just partially vaccinated.
While there has not been a dramatic spike in case growth in Ontario’s largest municipalities, it appears some smaller regions are struggling to keep COVID-19 at bay, including Simcoe-Muskoka, which has seen a surge in infections over the past two weeks. The public health units with the highest number of new cases today include Toronto (74), Windsor (71), Simcoe-Muskoka (67), Ottawa (42), Peel Region (40), York Region (39), Waterloo Region (37), and Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington (37).
Ontario’s known active COVID-19 caseload reached 4,872 on Thursday, up from 4,269 last week.
Despite a rise in daily cases in regions across the province, other key metrics appear to be stable. The Ministry of Health says there are currently 129 people in the ICU with COVID-19, down marginally from 132 last week. This number includes close to a dozen patients who were transferred to Ontario from Saskatchewan.
According to Ontario’s Science Advisory Table, as of Nov. 14, the province’s effective reproductive (RT) number is 1.09, meaning that every 100 new cases will go on to generate 109 secondary infections. This is down from 1.24 last week.
With 34,347 tests processed over the past 24 hours, officials are reporting a provincewide positivty rate of two per cent, down slightly from 2.1 per cent one week ago.
On Wednesday, sources confirmed to CTV News that the federal government plans to drop its policy requiring fully vaccinated travellers to provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test for trips under 72 hours.
The decision is fantastic news for Canadians, according to Dr. Issac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist at Toronto General Hospital.
“To go to the United States, people would need to acquire a PCR test in Canada… and then use the same PCR test to return to Canada.” “I’m delighted that was dropped because it doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he told CP24 on Thursday morning.
“It’s a deterrent exam.” Those tests can cost anywhere from $150 to $200, depending on where you are… Assume you have a family of four members. Many Canadians are suddenly unable to make a quick cross-border journey. Not only is it ineffective, but it is also unjust.”
Source_ cp24.com
